Justin Winkel
BIO:
Justin Winkel is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist based in Baltimore, Maryland. Justin Winkel is an American multidisciplinary artist whose work spans painting, sculpture, and mixed media. Inspired by aerial landscapes, geological formations, waterways, and the intricate patterns found throughout the natural world, he creates expressive abstract works that transform observation into immersive visual experiences. Rather than replicating what he sees, Winkel draws from the lasting impressions left by nature, allowing memory, intuition, and experimentation to shape each composition through layered surfaces, vibrant color, and energetic mark-making.
Since beginning his professional practice in 2013, Winkel has developed a distinctive body of work recognized for its richly textured surfaces and atmospheric compositions that exist between landscape and abstraction. In 2015, he established his studio in Baltimore's historic Fells Point neighborhood and founded Winkel Gallery, an independent contemporary art gallery that serves as both his working studio and a platform for exhibiting contemporary artists while fostering meaningful connections between artists, collectors, and the community.
Over the past decade, Winkel has placed more than 400 original works in private collections throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, and Australia. His work has been recognized through grants and community initiatives, including the Comcast RISE program and the BGE Energizing Small Business Grant. Through his evolving studio practice, public engagement projects, and gallery, Winkel continues to explore new ways of creating immersive experiences that invite viewers to connect with the emotion, atmosphere, and enduring impact of the natural world.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My paintings are rooted in the patterns, textures, and systems found throughout the natural world. Drawn to aerial perspectives, geological formations, waterways, forests, and shifting landscapes, I spend time observing nature through travel, imagery, documentaries, and everyday moments of discovery. These experiences become the starting point for each painting, but they are never directly replicated. Instead, I allow them to settle into memory, where they are transformed through intuition, emotion, and abstraction.
Working without reference images, each painting develops through an intuitive process of layering, spontaneous mark-making, and continual response. Color, texture, and movement guide the evolution of the work, allowing each composition to emerge naturally rather than following a predetermined outcome. What begins as an impression of the natural world gradually becomes something more personal, balancing observation with imagination and memory.
Although my work is inspired by nature, it is not intended to depict a specific place. Instead, I seek to capture the atmosphere, energy, and emotional resonance that a landscape can leave behind. My paintings exist somewhere between landscape and abstraction, inviting viewers to experience them rather than simply interpret them.
Ultimately, I hope my work creates a moment of immersion. Through layered surfaces, vivid color, and dynamic compositions, I want viewers to move beyond recognizing forms and instead connect with the feeling of the painting itself. Even if only for a moment, I hope each work transports them into a space where memory, emotion, and the natural world converge, allowing the experience to become 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 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
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
Businesses Commissioned Projects
Creative Print Group, Baltimore, MD
Lots of Dots Interior Design, Chapel Hill, NC
Dream Hair Lounge, Towson, MD
Studio FX, Baltimore, MD
Berman McAleer LLC, Timonium, MD
Genesis Healthcare, Catonsville, MD
TEACHING
2022 Morgan Stanley Team Building Art Lesson, Baltimore, MD
2021 Keynote Speaker, UMBC Entrepreneur Speaker Series, Baltimore, MD
2017 Private Group Art Lessons, Winkel Gallery
2016 Private Art Lessons, Winkel Gallery
2015 Comcast Corporate Team Building Art Lesson, Fells Point, MD
2014 Guest Lecturer, University of North Carolina–Greensboro, NC
2013 Guest Lecturer, Frostburg State University, MD
2013 Guest Lecturer, Stevenson University, MD
2012 Guest Lecturer, Arbutus Middle School, MD