Finally: “The 91 Paintings” Exhibit

“Don Quixote, The 91 Paintings in 91 Days Exhibit”:   March 23 – April 20*.

Opening Reception Party: Saturday, March 23, 2013 4 – 7 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* location map is below

The time has come for The Exhibit to commemorate the success of “91 Paintings in 91 Days” and to thank you who supported the project.  I hope you can all attend to see the work, meet the artist (for those who haven’t yet), see the studio where it all happens, and enjoy some wine and light refreshments. Bring a friend.

 

 

 

There are several backers who have yet to claim their rewards, so this show gives you all in that category a chance to make their pick.

Don Quixote, The “91 Paintings in 91 Days” Exhibit will be up March 23 – April 20.

Opening Reception Party: Saturday, March 23, 2013 4 – 7 pm

For those who can’t make it to the opening reception but would like to see the show, please note the gallery hours: Monday – Friday 10 am – 7 pm, by appointment.  Call or email to schedule a convenient time for you to come visit, generally allowing 24 hours notice.  Saturdays & Sundays from 11am – 5 pm I will be here to host visitors, though a 30 minutes notice is requested.

The Common Space Gallery is located within Artists West Association, on the second floor of Building #4, 144 Moody Street, Waltham, MA. *https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=ml

The 91st Day

The 91st Day: 33 paintings, 13 watercolors, and 50+ drawings since November 9th.  And I’m not done yet. Although I reached the goal 91 drawings and paintings I didn’t get to anything larger than one at 30″ x 20″ (Knight of the Long Face), and most no larger than 24″ x 28″.

Plus I haven’t yet exhausted the image of the gallant knight-errant Don Quixote, and  I haven’t yet reached the point of abstraction I am aiming for.  I have been getting closer recently; at least I’m beginning to get the hang of Cubism …

An Honorable Profession
20″x16″, 2013

A few quotes from The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha …

“Be quiet, Sancho, have patience, and one day you will see, with your own eyes, how honorable thing it is to exercise this profession.”

“A man who seeks the impossible may justly be denied the possible.”

When Madness is the Coin
20″x16″, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Therein lies the virtue and the excellence of my enterprise – for a knight-errant deserves neither glory nor thanks if he goes mad for a reason. A greater achievement is to lose to lose his reason for no reason.”

“Mad I am and mad I shall remain.”

Be sure to check for new paintings at:   http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbw-new-art/

Cheers.

Adios, 2012

It’s been a hell of a year.  I still don’t like writing, but it’s my job, so here goes.

First, the good news: Those who read my Kickstarter campaign or watched the video,* read or heard that the project began when I didn’t receive a grant that I submitted.  Well, this year they gave me the grant, re-written for funds to do what I set as my goals for the 91 Paintings Kickstarter.  Hooray!

As for the 91 Paintings, it’s going great.  A slowdown over the holidays, but Christmas isn’t about ourselves.  It’s about showing the people you love and care about that you do indeed love and care about them.  So the painting temporarily dropped on the priority scale but was hardly removed from that list altogether, as you can see at the newest postings on: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbw-new-art/

“Rocinante Running”

I haven’t counted exactly how many pieces I’ve completed, or rather, I keep losing track of how many are finished, but it is somewhere around 15 paintings, including a floor rug as a Christmas gift, and roughly 35 drawings and watercolors.

Peace.

*http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/294601879/don-quixote-91-paintings-in-91-days

Confronting Picasso, part 1

If you want to be a Cubist, you gotta deal with the big guy.  That’s right, PABLO PICASSO. He co-invented the language, and as VP in charge of all things new, ie. product development, he got to make the rules.  I can think of very few other Cubists who did much to advance the language of Cubism, particularly the portrait. Many traveled the trails he blazed, but during his lifetime anyway, they mostly stayed on or near those trails.

So I too have begun with Picasso.  Starting from a known point and advancing into the unfamiliar is the recipe for abstraction, as it is for all inventions, I suppose.

“Dulcinea #3″ ink wash and pencil on paper,
5″ x 7.5″ by MBWilson

 

These 91 Paintings and drawings may begin as emulations of Picasso (since he is the only one of the originals to emulate), but like like a teenager still living at home, I can’t wait to get out of the known world of Cubism and into something that I don’t know.

“Don Quixote Wearing Chaps”, detail, oil on canvas by MBWilson

 

 

 

 

 

The language of cubism began pretty narrow, and was dominated by Picasso.

“Dora Maar” by Picasso

“Woman with Hat” by Picasso

deChirico  joined modestly and briefly;

 

Chagall borrowed from cubism in his youth,

“1913, Paris” by Marc Chagall

but soon developed his own lexicon, which he never really left;

“I and The Village” by Marc Chagall

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Juan Gris just ran out of time…

“Man in the Cafe” 1912 Juan Gris
Oil on canvas, 128.2 x 88 cm; Philadelphia Museum of Art

So, to learn the language in order to advance the vocabulary?

Perhaps, but Cubism strikes me as a language that is a pure strain, incapable of reproducing itself, that lives and evolves only as a hybrid.

 

 

Sometimes Things Work Out Well

“Don Quixote Portrait #2″   pencil on paper; 5″ x 7″

Last summer I answered an ad on Craigslist from a young guy who wanted to barter his office and marketing skills for art lessons.  So we both took a chance and agreed to see how it went.  It’s going well.

In fact, here are 2 reasons why I love my new assistant Larry:

1.) He compiled this never-before-seen behind-the-scenes  video: http://bit.ly/91paintings.

2.) He wrote this press release:

      Re.   Michael Wilson’s ‘Staff Pick’ project on Kickstarter: “Don Quixote: 91 Paintings in 91 Days”. http://kck.st/ReaiaO

The work explores the connection between an artist, their subject and the constantly blurring definition of which is who. Don Quixote’s quests through an unsympathetic country-scape are rivaled in delusion only by an artist’s pursuit of their own ideal. Although the creative journey is rarely conclusive, it reveals a little more about the counterbalancing roles played by each.

I think this project is representative of many others which don’t
receive enough attention. Projects which challenge an artist’s
sensibilities and definition of who they are; projects which
ultimately change artistic direction by the sheer intensity of their
force. I think ’91 in 91′ succinctly manifests the frenzied, crazed
drive of an artist looking to break free of how they’ve been
expressing themselves for decades. And the challenges associated with that change: representation, acceptance, continuity.

I think your readers might enjoy an exploration of this and other
blind leaps of faith.

No Way to Stop Now

“91 Paintings in 91 Days” has raised the funds I sought to support my Don Quixote Project. Hooray! Thank you to all who helped out!!

Still 8 more days to go – enough time to get an original drawing or painting of Don Quixote, created by me in a cubist style, at 1/3 to 1/2 off.

“Blue Highways”; oil on canvas; 48″ x 36″

A win-win!

10 Days to go and counting…

Not there yet but ALMOST – $7.00 with 10 days to go… I am 99.9% sure that we’re going to succeed!! THANK YOU!!!  to everyone who backed the project so far.

What a win-win this will be now that I am confident it is successful! I will get to buy the materials I need and the backers get these drawings and paintings, which I must say, I am really very pleased with.  Here a few of them:

“Don-Quixote-#24″ 5″ x 7″ pencil on paper

“Don-Quixote-#25″ 5″ x 7″ ink on paper

“Don Quixote Portrait-#3″
5″ x 7″ pencil on paper

“The First Knight” 48″ x 36″
oil on canvas