Justin Winkel
BIO:
Justin Winkel (b. 1989, Baltimore, Maryland) is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist whose practice explores the relationship between memory, emotion, and the natural world. Working across painting, sculpture, and mixed media, Winkel is known for expressive abstraction, vivid color, layered texture, and spontaneous mark-making.
After studying business in college, Winkel pursued a career in art, beginning his professional practice in 2013. In 2015, he opened Winkel Gallery in Baltimore, originally as a personal studio and exhibition space. The gallery has since developed into one of Baltimore's longstanding independent art spaces, presenting Winkel's work alongside exhibitions by emerging and established artists.
Winkel's work is held in private collections throughout the United States and internationally. His practice continues to evolve through an exploration of painting, sculpture, installation, and mixed media, with an ongoing interest in the beauty and fragility of the natural environment.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My practice is rooted in the patterns, textures, and systems of the natural world. I gather this material through travel, aerial imagery, documentaries, and everyday observation, then let it settle into memory. The paintings never replicate a place. They begin with what remains once the specifics have faded.
I work intuitively, building each surface through layering, spontaneous mark-making, and constant response. Color, texture, and movement direct the process, and each composition emerges rather than following a plan. The results sit between landscape and abstraction, closer to the atmosphere and energy of a place than to its appearance.
As climate change and environmental destruction reshape the landscapes that inform my work, these paintings also carry a sense of fragility. They come from my love of the natural world and my belief that it is worth preserving.
I want viewers to move past recognizing forms and respond to the feeling of the painting itself, so that memory, emotion, and the natural world meet in an experience that becomes their own.
Artist CV
Justin Winkel
Currently lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland
info@justinwinkel.com | www.JustinWinkel.com
Justin Winkel, is a multidisciplinary self-taught artist from Baltimore, Maryland.
EDUCATION
Baltimore, Maryland
University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)
Bachelors of Arts in Business Technology Administration
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
WINKEL GALLERY
Fells Point, Maryland
The location of Justin's studio and his permanent collection
EXHIBITIONS
2026, Solo Exhibition, From the Desert to the Rainforest, Baltimore, MD
2026, Solo Exhibition, The Shared Surface, Baltimore, MD
2026 Group Exhibition, THEMES & COLORS, Winkel Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2025 Solo Exhibition, Winkel Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2024 Solo Exhibition, Winkel Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2023 Group Exhibition, MAGENTA, Winkel Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2023 Solo Exhibition, Palmscapes, Winkel Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2021 Solo Exhibition, The Mini Series, BONOBOS, Tysons Galleria, Mcclean, VA
2020 Solo Exhibition, The Mini Series, Baltimore, MD
2019 Solo Exhibition, Free State Justice Annual Jazz Brunch, Baltimore, MD
2018 Solo Exhibition, Winkel Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2017 Solo Exhibition, The Liberty Hotel, Boston, MA
2016 Solo Exhibition, Winkel Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2015 Opening of, Winkel Studio, Baltimore, MD
2015 Solo Exhibition, Blushing Gypsy Boutique, Baltimore MD
2013 Solo Exhibition, Geppi’s Entertainment Museum, Baltimore MD
GRANTS & AWARDS
2025- BGE Energizing Small Business Grant
2024- AMEX Main Street American Artist Grant
2023- Comcast Rise Arts Grant
2022- Main Street American Artist Grant
2020- BOPA Baltimore Artist Emergency Relief Fund