About John Detweiler

John Detweilier is a self-taught artist whose large-scale, mixed-media works emerge from a life lived at the intersection of intellect, intuition, and tactile experimentation. Trained as a physicist at UC Berkeley, John left academia in the early 1970s to pursue a different kind of inquiry—one guided not by formulas but by feeling. He found his footing among the artists of San Francisco’s vibrant countercultural scene and later made a living flipping buildings, always remaining attuned to the textures, materials, and atmospheres that now populate his visual language.

Based in Santa Fe, John works with unconventional materials—commercial construction elements, hand-mixed pigments, and man-made additives that lend his surfaces a visceral, often earth-encrusted quality. His paintings oscillate between abstract figuration, color fields, and richly layered panels composed of smaller, individually constructed units. The result is a practice that feels architectural, poetic, and deeply embodied.

In his current body of work, John has moved from thinking to feeling, from concept to sensation. He describes his process as one of opening—a way to access wonder, aliveness, and the quiet joy of making. His work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions across San Francisco, Indianapolis, and Santa Fe, including recent shows at FOMA Gallery (2021–2025).

John’s presence is grounding and generous, much like his art—inviting viewers into a material conversation that resists easy interpretation but rewards close attention.