An Artist - Paul Wilson

[Kathleen Collins]

A painter named Paul Wilson is exhibiting his paintings of Lee Harvey Oswald. The whole thing is "My Life with Lee Harvey Oswald." In his paintings he depicts an innocent Oswald. In the one painting this Arizona Museum shows online has LHO with more hair. That's the first thing I saw. Having more hair helps to make him innocent and younger in Wilson's painting.

Here is an article about him.

"In June and July, Willo North Gallery will present My Life with Lee Harvey Oswald, an exhibition of all-new work by celebrated local artist Paul Wilson. The exhibit will feature paintings, photo montages, video work, and collage—all of it depicting Oswald as something other than the notorious alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy.

Wilson’s humor-based art re-imagines Oswald as a recording artist, a teen heart-throb, a fashion doll, and as the subject of paintings that make sly reference to Great Masters (like Lee Harvey Oswald as the Mona Lisa). “I want him to be innocent,” Wilson says. “In my reinvention of the man I have chosen to depict him as he might have been, had he not been associated with the events of November 1963: Light and tasteful but often absurd.”

Wilson’s new body of work asks questions about American innocence, and ponders a more hopeful world had Kennedy not been assassinated. “I seek to make Lee Harvey human, to make him likable, heroic, goofy, and even foxier than he really was,” says Wilson, who last week received an Emerging Artist Award from Phoenix Art Museum’s Contemporary Forum. “In doing so, I allow people to see him in another, much more favorable light. So we end up wondering, ‘What would the world be like today if this guy had just been a soap opera actor, and not an alleged assassin?’”

My Life with Lee Harvey Oswald will open on First Friday, June 1 at 6 p.m. with an artist reception, and will remain on exhibit through July 27. Willo North Gallery is located at 2811 North Seventh Avenue in Phoenix. The gallery is otherwise open by appointment only, by calling 602-320-8445.

Posted by Kristin Shears at 5:41 PM

2 comments:

1. 
   
   Cindy SchnackelMay 14, 2012 2:28 PM
   Very much looking forward to Paul's show! Reply
   
2. 
   
   Judyth Vary BakerJune 4, 2012 7:08 PM
   A remarkable artist who humanizes Lee Oswald,a man many Americans believe was framed for the murder of President John F. Kennedy. I personally appreciate Paul Wilson's innovative approach -- including his "Oswald" dolls, some of which could become models for Action Figures -- as he consulted with me about Lee Oswald's physique, preferences and habits. Lee wasn't gay, but he had an open mind and would have laughed at some of the things Paul has done to him,since he had a keen sense of humor! Paul's amazing art presents a Lee Harvey Oswald that today's viewers can now visualize as someone who could not possibly have been a cold-blooded killer-- just as many of us who knew him personally can attest. (I loved Lee) Reply
   

Willo North Gallery

Kristin Shears Phoenix, Arizona, United States

2811 N. 7th Avenue

Phoenix, AZ 85007

for information contact us by e-mail or call 602 448 9041

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1st Fri of each month 6 – 10 p.m.

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[Michael Hogan]

A painter named Paul Wilson is exhibiting his paintings of Lee Harvey Oswald. The whole thing is "My Life with Lee Harvey Oswald." In his paintings he depicts an innocent Oswald. In the one painting this Arizona Museum shows online has LHO with more hair. That's the first thing I saw. Having more hair helps to make him innocent and younger in Wilson's painting.

http://paulwilson.am...-doll-part-one/