Douglas Wirls spends his summers in the mountains of New York State observing the intricacies of nature. These visual snapshots are then recalled back home in his Brooklyn studio. Using polyester film, this unusual and waxy surface grabs the pastel, which Wirls manipulates on the page as though conducting an orchestral arrangement. The hand of the artist is clearly evident in the rhythmic sway of the grassy fields. Sweeping gestures, high crescendos and mysterious passages are all applied with a draftsman-like skill. These images of undulating plains and flowering forests are devoid of the human figure, but one anticipates the appearance of a wood nymph or a prairie wagon at any moment..

An Ohio native and Philadelphia Tyler College of Fine Art graduate, Douglas has lived and worked in New York for over 30 years.  Whether utilizing watercolor, charcoal, paint or encaustic, this gifted artist captures the lyrical elements of the form. With fluid lines, his work is modern and simultaneously traditional and distinctly personal.

Wirls has been the subject of many solo and group shows throughout the New York and Philadelphia areas. His works are in numerous collections, including the Ashville Art Museum, Butler Institute of American Art, Woodmere Art Museum and the Pennsylvania and New Jersey State Museums.  He is also a professor at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.

EDUCATION:
1970-74 – B.F.A., Tyler College of Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA
1972 – Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME

SELECTED SOLO GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2005 - The Painting Center, Bad Botany, New York, NY
2003 - The More Gallery, Plants and Animals, Philadelphia, PA
2000 - Binghamton University, Rosefsky Memorial Gallery Binghamton, New York
1997 - The More Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
- Left Bank Gallery, Bennington, VT
1995 - The Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY
1993 - The More Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
- The Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY
1990 - The More Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1988 - The More Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1984 - Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1980 - Landmark Gallery, New York, NY

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2005 - Creatures, Denice Bibro Gallery, New York, NY
- Crossing Disciplines, The Schafler Gallery, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
2004 - Staying on Point, Figure Drawing, Denise Bibro Gallery, New York, NY
2003 - What’s Black and White, Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Art, The State Museum of Pennsylvania
- Light and Landscape: Relections of Italy, Wayne Art Center, Wayne PA.
- IV Centuries of Birds in Paintings, Sculpture, and Prints, The Clarke Galleries,
- Traveling, Stowe Vermont, Palm Beach Florida , New York City ( catalog)
2002 - Imaginative Affinities, Echoes of Edwin Dickenson in Contemporary
- American Paintings , Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA
2000 - 175th Annual Exhibition, The National Academy of Design Museum, New York, NY (Received the Laufman Award for drawing)
1999 - Please Be Seated, The MetLife Exhibition Program, curated by Suzanne Randolph Fine Arts.
1998 - 173 rd Annual Exhibition, The National Academy of Design Museum, New York, NY (Received the Joseph S. Isador Medal for painting)
1997 - Birds in Art, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI (Traveling Exhibition)
1996 - Smith College Invitational Drawing Exhibtion, Smith College, North Hampton, MA
1995 - NY Collection, ‘95, Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
1992 - Man and Beast, Fan Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
- New Acquisitions, New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ
1991 - Figures, Seraphim Gallery, Englewood, NJ
1990 - Nocturne, The More Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1987 - The Figure, William and Mary College, Williamsburg, VA
1986-7 Works on Paper, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
1985 - Works on Paper, Woodmeer Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
1983 - Four Painters, Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1982 - Elaine Dekooning and Her Inadvertent Collection, Elaine Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY
1977 - New Talent, Maine Coast Artists, Rockport, ME

PUBLIC/CORPORATE COLLECTIONS:
Ashville Art Museum, Asheville, NC
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
Western Carolina University, Belk Art Gallery, Cullowhee, NC
Cigna Museum Philadelphia, PA
Pennsylvania State Museum, Harrisburg, PA
New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ
Ciba-Geigy Collection, Ardsley, NY
Woodmeer Art Museum, Woodmeer, PA
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
American Arts Quarterly, Spring 2005. James Cooper, Douglas Wirls at the Painting Center
Philadelphia Inquirer, April 25, 2003. Edward J. Sozanski, Drawings With Punch
American Artist Magazine , January 2001. E. Lynn Moss, Drawings in Flux
Birds in Art, 1997. Leigh Yawkey Wodson Art Museum, p. 121
Philadelphia Inquirer , May 28, 1993. Edward J. Sozanski,
Art in America , January, 1989. William P. Scott, Douglas Wirls at the More Gallery
Philadelphia Inquirer , March 20, 1990. Jennifer Crohn,
Philadelphia Inquirer , December 26, 1986. Victoria Donohoe,
Philadelphia Inquirer , December 15, 1984. Victoria Donohoe,