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"Oh, find me a home, where the buffalo roam, where the deer and the antelope play.
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word, and the skies are not cloudy all day."
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Mid-Atlantic Daily Campello Art News
By F. Lennox Campello
"Hilarious (and smart)"
"...Full of irony and delivered with superb technical expertise, Wilder flexes well-developed observational skills that challenge the genre of "cowboy art" in a new refreshing manner."
Full review:
www.dcartnews.blogspot.com
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The Noise, cover • January 2008 |
The Noise
Cover and Article • January 2008 • #80
It's the Arts
by John Abrahamsen
The New Frontier
If there is an American Mythology, then it probably has more to do with the Old West than any other part of our history - our notions and ideals about rugged individuality, pioneer spirit, resolute independence, openness and freedom of space are rooted in our love of the American Frontier, and the images that symboloze those ideals. But as artist David Wilder knows, it's the American media that polishes, packages and sells the mythology, and it's the Hollywood version of the West that most Americans know.
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"I call it the Imaginary West," Mr. Wilder says. "It's that place in our collective unconscious where history, fiction and fancy all swirl around like a dust devil at a church picnic." And that's the West that Mr. Wilder captures in his ofetn humorous watercolors, which celebrate the valiant ideals of the Old West and poke fun at the media-fed symbols. "John Wayne is more real to most people than Wild Bill Hickock", he says, "but that's great if you're an artist. Reality is complicated. Myth is tidy."
Wilder treats the popular images with tongue-in-cheek affection: ornery cowpokes ride kiddie horses, proud Indians blow bubbles, Boot Hill is covered with giant boots, saguaros wear cowboy hats and the entire wagon train of Western icons gets sent up with a fond wink - like a lot of us, Mr. Wilder is a true fan of the West. We know that much of the Western myth is Hollywood hokum with omly a tenuous connection to actual history, but we love it anyway, like our favorite TV shows - it's part of out popcorn matinee heritage and we embrace it, and there is some truth to it. Get us up off the couch, and we really are rugged.
"I'm not a cowboy," Mr. Wilder acknowledges, "cowboys work for a living. I grew up with the Disneyland version of the West. As I got older and moved to Arizona, I realized it's an elaborate mythology - it's our legend. it plays a central role in our ideal of ourselves. I'm just saying, 'Look, it's a myth,' and making us laugh at ourselves."
A member of the Jerome Artists' Cooperative Gallery and the Sedona Arts Center, Mr. Wilder lives and paints in Camp Verde, where he's been working on a new solo exhibit coming up in February at the Jerome Artists' Cooperative Gallery. "I feel that this is the best work that I've ever done," he says about the show. "It's the culmination of years of effort."
You can meet Mr. Wilder at the opening on Saturday, Feburay 16th from 5:30 to 8:30PM. Western singer songwriter Dan Rice will perform and refreshments will be served. The Jerome Artists' Cooperative Gallery is inside the Historic Hotel Jerome at 502 Main St. in Jerome. For a glimpse of Wilder's porfolio, go to wilderarts.com.
www.thenoise.us
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The Noise, cover • June 2006 |
The Noise
Cover and Article • June 2006 • #61
It's the Arts
by Ashley Carter
David Wilder's Wild West
David Wilder began painting at the tender age of five, with a kindergarten watercolor set. He has since gone professional and managed to refine his skills without losing his creativity. Working mainly in watercolor, he creates art rich with color and humor, infused with a surreal spirit of the West.
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Growing up in Souther California, Mr. Wilder cut his teeth on TV westerns and Chuck Jones cartoons. Now stationed in Sedona, Mr. Wilder uses his surroundings (and imagination) to re-create the Old West in his art."The result is often something like Roy Rogers meets the Twilight Zone," he says. In his studio, cowboy hats float like space ships and buffalo have wings. "If it makes you laugh, smile, nod in agreement or simply scratch your head and wonder, then I have done my job."
This prolific artist has over the years designed greeting cards, corporate logos and coffee mugs, to name a few. Though he does maintain a love for graphic design, these days his focus is on fine art. He is active in the local arts community and is a member of the Jerome Artists Cooperative and the Sedona Arts Center. For a good time, visit his website at wilderarts.com. The little cowboy inside you won't be disappointed.
www.thenoise.us
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SedonaInformation.com
by Jim Bergstrom
David Wilder
The crazed surrealist art of David Wilder always has a twist. I love his painting “Big Hat Country” for its Dada-style message and “Different Drummer” for its simple yet complex implications. David’s style projects realism, not abstract ideas, and it lends itself well to his sense of humor, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, sometimes evocative, always on target.
www.sedonainformation.com
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