William Lindemann Biography

Bio

I have come to believe that painting begins long before I enter the studio. It begins with paying attention.

Ideas rarely arrive while I’m looking for them. They come while walking a beach, wandering through a forest, circling my neighborhood, or sitting quietly with a sketchbook. When I enter the studio, I’m carrying impressions rather than plans.

I don’t begin with a fixed image. The painting unfolds one response at a time as I build layers of acrylic paint, working and reworking the surface until the painting begins to reveal itself. The process is less about control than about listening.

My paintings are abstract, but they are rooted in experience. Memory, dreams, the landscape, and the quiet relationship between people and the natural and built world find their way into the work. Rather than telling a fixed story, I hope each painting leaves room for viewers to discover their own.

Looking back, I realize the most important lesson of my life wasn’t simply learning how to make art. It was learning how to pay attention.

Each painting is another opportunity to begin with curiosity rather than certainty. If the work succeeds, it becomes a quiet meeting place where two unfamiliar minds can share the same moment of discovery.

Education

The University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1973 through 1978, graduating with a BA in Studio Arts and concentrations in mixed media sculpture and drawing.

The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, 1979 through 1981, graduating with a MA in Studio Arts and concentrations in mixed media sculpture and drawing.

Galleries

Surfaces (2025)

Surfaces, 309 West Front Street, Suite A, Traverse City, MI 49684, and West End Lofts

https://www.instagram.com/surfaces_traverse_city https://www.facebook.com/p/Surfaces-Art-Supplies‍ ‍https://www.surfacesartsupplies.com (see Contacts)

Saatchi Art (2026)

https://www.saatchiart.com/account/profile/2929663

Exhibitions

1978 Undergraduate Final Project Exhibit, bold colorful polychromatic freestanding woven wire mesh structures, Department of Art, School of Education, University of Wisconsin,

1978 Wisconsin Biennial Exhibition, Outdoor Sculpture, Madison Art Center, Madison, Wisconsin

1978 'Clay As Art', Invitational Exhibit, Performing and Fine Arts Building Gallery, School of Art and Design, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ

1981 MA Thesis Exhibit, wall mounted and freestanding painted wood, metal, glass, paper, cord structural elements of exploration: ship's compass, dog sleds, map case, flat and rolled hand-made maps, The University of New Mexico Art Museum, Albuquerque, NM

1983-1986 Sales and Rental Gallery, paintings, prints and drawings, Madison Art Center (aka Madison Museum of Contemporary Art), Madison, WI

1986 RAYOVAC Corporation, Corporate Headquarters Collection Exhibit, Madison, WI (two purchases for permanent collection)

1986-1988 LaBrea Interiors, bold polychromatic metal pedestal cafe tables in window displays, La Brea Interiors Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1988-2018, Sierra Artists' Network (aka North Tahoe Arts), various group exhibits, Tahoe City, CA

2004 Stony Ridge Cafe, solo exhibit: 'Drawing in the Nature of Things', Tahoma, CA

2023 Crooked Tree Arts Center, Members' Guild Salon Show, CTAC Traverse City, MI

2024 Crooked Tree Arts Center, Members' Guild Salon Show, CTAC Traverse City, MI

2024 Glen Arbor Art Center, Members' Show, Glen Arbor Art Center, Glen Arbor, MI

2024 Crooked Tree Arts Center, 'Fields of Vision' juried exhibition, CTAC Petoskey, MI

2025 Crooked Tree Arts Center, Members' Guild Salon Show, CTAC Petoskey, MI

2025 Crooked Tree Arts Center, 10 Fold juried exhibition, CTAC Traverse City, MI

2025 Crooked Tree Arts Center, Wooden and Earthen juried exhibition, CTAC Traverse City, MI

2025 Crooked Tree Arts Center, Solo: Memory and Transition, William Lindemann: Recent Work, October/November 2025, CTAC Traverse City

2026 Crooked Tree Arts Center, Between Us, juried exhibition, CTAC Traverse City, MI

2026 Crooked Tree Arts Center, Art Guild Salon exhibition, CTAC Traverse City, MI

Pleaseemail any questions regarding the work, purchasing originals or prints.