Dori DeCamillis Bio
Dori graduated with a BFA in painting and art history from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1987. After college she lived on the road in a vintage motor home, selling her artwork at outdoor festivals around the country, where her miniature oil paintings gained popularity and recognition. After three years of traveling she chose to settle in Birmingham, Alabama, a favorite place encountered in her travels.
She exhibited her paintings in museums and galleries across the country and abroad, including a solo show at the Birmingham Museum of Art in 2000. Sherry Frumkin Gallery in Los Angeles hosted 5 sell-out shows of her work from 1996 through 2002. Her work has been featured in national newspapers and magazines, and she has won over 40 exhibition awards.
Dori is now co-owner of Red Dot Gallery in Birmingham, a teaching space, art gallery, and working studio. Her paintings evolved into large, iconic mixed media panels that combine oil painting on wood and copper with handmade ceramic tiles. in 2007 she received the Alabama State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship, which inspired Exhibit A, Paintings of Alabama Places. The series was exhibited at the Mobile Museum of Art April through August of 2011.
Dori has written two memoirs. "The Freeway" recounts the three adventurous years she lived on the road selling her artwork. In "My Steamboat" she tells stories of growing up with her quirky family in Steamboat Springs, Colorado as it was turning from a small rural town to a big-time ski resort. Link to Book page.
Dori's current work is a series of self-portraits depicting her own mind-states. Each piece is a character in a private mythology designed to personify ever-changing thought patterns, habits, and perspectives. The Huntsville Museum of Art featured a solo exhibit of this series from February through June of 2015. Link to Without a Net Blog, the written part of this exploratory project.
Dori DeCamillis CV
Born 1963, Steamboat Springs, CO
Education
1987 BFA in Painting and Art History, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado
Selected Awards
2012 Purchase Award, Red Clay Survey, Huntsville Museum of Art, AL
2011 People's Choice Award, Nature Conservancy Earth Day Celebration, Birmingham, AL
2006-07 Alabama Council on the Arts Individual Artists Fellowship
1991-2003 Over 40 top awards at the country's most notable outdoor art festivals
Solo Exhibitions
2020 Solo exhibit, Grand Bohemian Gallery, Birmingham, AL
2020 Read My Mind, Mobile Museum of Art, AL
2015 Encounters, Huntsville Museum of Art, AL
2011 The Prominence of Place, Mobile Museum of Art, AL
Exhibit A, Red Dot Gallery, Birmingham AL
2007 The Grammar of Ornament, Sherrie Gallery, Columbus, OH
2005 Many Splendored Things, Red Dot Gallery, Birmingham, AL
2003 Drive By L.A., Frumkin Duval Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
My Babies, Bare Hands Gallery, Birmingham, AL
2002 Craighead Green Gallery, Dallas, TX
Wiregrass Museum, Dothan, AL
The Freeway, Frumkin Duval Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2001 Normal, Montevallo University, Birmingham, AL
2000 Artspedition, Frumkin Duval Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, a traveling performance installation including exhibitions at:
Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, TN
Dayton Institute of Art, Dayton, OH
Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM
Yourworld, Birmingham Museum of Art, Dr. David Moos-Curator
Games, Vices, and Addiction, Bare Hands Gallery, Birmingham, AL
1999 Harry and Martha, Frumkin Duval Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1997 In the Privacy of, Sherry Frumkin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1996 Other Voices, Other Rooms, Sherry Frumkin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1990 Mr. and Mrs., Spark Gallery, Denver, CO
Selected Exhibitions
2015 Celebrating Contemporary Art in Alabama: The Biennial, Johnson Center for the Arts, Troy, AL
2012 Purchase Award, Red Clay Survey Biennial Exhibition, Huntsville Museum of Art, AL
2011 ASCA Alabama Artists Gallery, Montgomery, AL
Celebrating Contemporary Art in Alabama: The Biennial, Johnson Center for the Arts
Masterpieces Center Stage, Exhibition Tour:
Berman Museum, Anniston, AL
Mobile Museum of Art, AL
Huntsville Museum of Art, AL
Montgomery Museum of Art, AL
2009 Celebrating the Arts in Alabama, Johnson Center for the Arts, Troy, AL
2007 Alabama Originals; Expanding Perspectives, Alabama Artists Gallery, Montgomery, AL
2006 Just a Head, Alabama Clay Conference, Montevallo University, AL
2005 Beyond Dolls, Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, OH
2003 Limn Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2002 Art Aficionado, Birmingham Museum of Art, AL
Biennial Invitational Art Auction, Montgomery Museum of Art, AL
2001 All Things Small and Beautiful, Greater Reston Arts Center, Reston, VA
Familiar Reality-A Celebration of Alabama Artists, Alabama Artists Gallery, Montgomery
2000 Patterned Flowers, George Billis Gallery, New York, NY
Craighead Green Gallery, Dallas, TX
Art Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
Nall Museum, Vence, France
Chateau Museum, Tourettes Sur Loup, France
Ken Elias Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL
Coplan Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
1999 Story Tellers, Art Institute of Southern California, Laguna Beach
1998 Maralyn Wilson Gallery, Birmingham, AL
1995 Brigitte Schluger Gallery, Denver, CO
Agnes Gallery, Birmingham, AL
Selected Bibliography
2013 Art in the Family, Birmingham Magazine, Laura McCallister, May Issue
2011 Mobile Press Register
Labor of Love, B-Metro, Brett Levine
2010 Birmingham News
2009 HGTV, That's Clever, air date Mar 2
2008 Thicket Magazine
WBHM, Tapestry, air date Feb 7
2007 Columbus Dispatch
Birmingham News
Birmingham Magazine
2004 Black and White (Birmingham)
2003 Los Angeles Times
Black and White
2002 New American Paintings
Denver Post
Westword (Denver)
2001 The Artists Magazine
Birmingham Post Herald
Birmingham News
2000 Los Angeles Times
Santa Monica Mirror
Albuquerque Tribune
Dayton Daily News
Chattanooga Times
Chanel 13 News, Birmingham, AL
For the Record, Alabama Public Television
Black and White
Birmingham News
1999 Black and White
1998 New American Paintings
1997 Birmingham Magazine
Artscene, Los Angeles, CA
1996 Birmingham News
1995 Denver Post
1994 Orlando Sentinel
Collections
Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, OR
Leonard and Susan Nimoy
John Elway
Joyce Maynard
Charles Gaines
Patricia Richardson
Kim Abeles
Nall
Gail Wellington
Todd Holland
Xavier Roberts
Henry D. Varnell III
Jim Dicke II
Gail Andrews
Laura Hull
Jack Drake
Jim Sokol
Mary Kay Culpepper
Tony Jonas
Susan Haynes
Riverchase Country Club
Rob Burton