Nathan DiStefano

"My paintings are places I still felt after I had been there. Certain environments stand out over time. I want to capture how these places made me feel... I want to show the vibrations."
-Nathan DiStefano

Painter Nathan DiStefano was born and raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania and maintains a studio in town. He received his M.F.A. on scholarship at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 2004. DiStefano's style of work is often referred to as contemporary impressionism and his subjects typically revolve around landscape paintings, specifically abstract environments. He is also considered a "representational painter," in that his paintings are representational of emotional situations.

DiStefano began practicing his landscape style in the woods of Bucks County, first with paintings of nature. He usually works with large canvases, often six feet or taller, because he wishes to feel like he is inside of the scene depicted on the painting. Capturing the "experience" of the scene is very important to DiStefano. As he says in his artist statement, "These high-energy paintings recreate the landscape through minimal brushstrokes. DiStefano's work makes use of positive and negative space, creating an optical illusion-like effect, in which the viewers' minds can fill in the gaps to create a moving scene." He enjoys depicting the "vibrations" of a scene through illusions of motion that "allows the viewer to be aware of how much of a moving scene usually goes unnoticed." Such fascination with movement and vibrations caused DiStefano to switch to depicting city life in Philadelphia and Manhattan. These paintings in particular have helped to build his success and recognition. Besides landscapes, some of his recent works have incorporated figures and still lifes, focusing on the emotion created by the interaction between the subjects and their environments.

DiStefano's paintings have been exhibited in galleries in Bucks County, Philadelphia, New Jersey, and New York. A majority of his murals currently hang in Bucks County locations, such as the Doylestown YMCA, the Doylestown McDonald's Restaurant, and the Doylestown Hospital Health and Wellness Center in Warrington. Other painting locations include Univest Bank, Philadelphia Management, Eastcom Verizon, Doylestown Hospital, and the Children's Museum in New Hope, Pennsylvania. DiStefano has also exhibited his work at major art galleries, such as the E-Moderne Gallerie in Philadelphia, where he participated in a group exhibition in 2014 and had his own solo exhibition in the Spring of 2015.

Education & Training
M.F.A. in Painting and Drawing, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2004

Teachers & Influences
DiStefano is inspired by impressionist, post-impressionist, and abstract impressionist artists, as well as principles relating to science, physics, and motion.

Connection to Bucks County
DiStefano was born and raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and his studio is located on South Main Street in Doylestown, which has been in operation since about 2000. He has many murals displayed around the Doylestown area and has exhibited frequently in the Bucks County and Philadelphia regions.

Major Exhibitions
Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, Chelsea, New York, 2003
Crane Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2004
Thesis Exhibition, University of the Arts Hamilton Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2004
Doylestown Freight House Mural, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2005
Sabine Rose Gallery, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2005-2008
Doylestown Hospital Health and Wellness Center mural, Warrington, Pennsylvania, 2007
Doylestown McDonald's mural, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2008
Bucks County Gallery of Fine Art, New Hope, Pennsylvania, 2009, 2010
Byers' Choice Ltd. Exhibition, Keenan Mercedes Dealership, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2010
Doylestown YMCA Mural, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2011
Absolutely Abstract Exhibit, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2012
Phillips' Mill Annual Juried Exhibition, New Hope, Pennsylvania, 2012
Soho Myriad, Atlanta, Georgia, 2013
Bicentennial Juried Exhibition, Gratz Gallery, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2013
Everything Vibrates, solo show, affiliated through Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2013
Bazemore Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2014
In Plain Sight, Main Line private show, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, Pennsylvania, 2014
Art Unleashed, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2014
Group Show, E-Moderne Gallerie, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2014
Nathan DiStefano and Joseph Barrett Exhibition, Doylestown Frame Factory, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2014
Art Unleashed, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2015
Solo Exhibition, E-Moderne Gallerie, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2015

Commissions
Univest Grand Prix Bike Race, commissioned by Univest Bank, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2010

Appointments
Guest speaker at Delaware Valley University, Artist Lecture Series, 2015

Major Awards
Scholarship to the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2002-2004
The painting, Morning Jog, was awarded to hang in the Bucks County Courthouse after the Bicentennial Juried Show in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2013.