Maxwellvision To Host Art Show at Skylite Station Throughout November, Opening Party 11/7
by Tim Wenger
Maxwell, or Maxwellvision as he is better known in the art world, is not your typical artist. Although I have been acquainted with him for about six months or so, each time he calls me and asks me to come down to the Sante Fe Arts District I know I am in for a treat. I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to listen to his band The Bunny Gang in their practice studio (also a part of Maxwell’s home) up above Sante Fe, hashing out a brand new cover of Rancid’s “International Coverup” for the latter’s tribute album. The Bunny Gang have also graced me with their presence on my radio program Music Buzz LIVE Radio, and, upon the most recent of said phone calls, I met with Maxwell at a coffee shop near his studio to hear about his latest endeavor- a month-long art exhibit titled Hand of Spirit, featuring art from himself, Jared David Paul and Laurie Maves. The show runs throughout November inside Skylite Station at 910 Sante Fe Drive.
The opening party for the 30 day celebration will be a night of live music, interpretive dance, art, and chef-inspired cuisine on Thursday November 7 from 6-10 pm. “It’s going to be an eclectic night of celebration in the arts,” says Maxwell. The evening will feature avant garde performers and the debut presentation of a section of Maxwell’s extended piano piece, The Birth of the New Heart.
When informed of this as we sat across from each other with our organic fair trade coffee, I pictured in my head many years of sweat and laborious composition that he must have put into this piece. I learned that I was dead wrong, however, as Maxwell hadn’t so much as touched a piano until this last winter. “It was a long, cold, dark winter for me,” he says. “This phenomenal thing happened. I was reading Paramahansa Yogananda and he says, ‘To strengthen ones’ spiritual practice, learn something you’ve always wanted to learn and learn it well.’ The next day I went out and bought a piano. I’d never played the piano before. I just got the piano and started touching it.” He struggled a bit at first, feeling as though his fingers were tied together with rubber bands, but after constant practice and study of the instrument he began not only feeling comfortable with the piano, but putting together what would become his first organized material on the instrument.
What began developing was an idea for what Maxwell thought would be multiple musical pieces, feeling the vibration of the notes on his piano and connecting them in what he felt was a healing manner. “I got these melodies in my head and I wanted to make them tangible,” he says. “I started finding the notes. Theory was irrelevant, there was no analyzing. It was all about ‘How does it feel. If I played this note and then I layered on top this note, how does it vibrate?’”
He began waking up in the middle of the night with a melody in mind and heading to the piano to turn it into a physical vibration. “I didn’t sleep for months,” he says. “I would go to that piano and stack different vibrations. I started creating these melodies which I thought were going to be individual songs but they became something bigger. They all started stringing themselves together into one piece.”
Maxwell began composing a long-form piece of minimalist classical music through these smaller individual melodies he was creating one at a time. “As I was composing, my goal was, ‘You know, I want to perform, live, on the piano,” he says. “As a non-pianist, I want to have the freedom to walk up to a piano and play without the pressure of being critiqued or judged as a musician. I want to play the piano as an artist.”
Freed by his newfound approach to composing, he has been putting together a full theatre piece and will be performing 25 minutes of it at the opening party on the 7th. He has put together a full production complete with modern interpretive dance, video projections and sound treatments on electric guitar provided by William Murphy. Maxwell is beyond excited about this new venture putting his passions for music and art together as one. “I dig rock and roll, I’ve been rock and rolling my whole life,” he says. “But now I’m in a position to merge the visual and the musical together in a more peaceful way, I think. A more calming way.”
The primary dancer is Mila Popovich. Carol Meyer is designing the dress. Richard Elipteo will be doing video projection. Connor Black and William Murphy will be creating sound treatments from Maxwell’s piano. The evening will feature a handful of other sort performances. Gourmet food will be provided by a local chef. Nat Lort Nelson of The Bunny Gang will be doing ambient music throughout the night between sets. The enchanting Xitlali will dance to live drummers
Being the true visionary that he is, Maxwell hopes to take the finished piece, upon completion, to larger theatre production and make grow his name is the theatre community. “What I want to bring to Denver is another contemporary vision that is internationally viable,” says Maxwell.
As we conclude our meeting, Maxwell hands me a piece of handmade art for my wall (after making sure that I have a wall to hang it on and am not residing in my car) and a big hug. We talked briefly about how welcoming the music and arts communities in Denver are, and he is, through and through, more proof of that. His art is, I must say, something to behold.
–Stop by the gallery at 910 Sante Fe Drive November 1-30 to check out and purchase some of Maxwell’s art. A closing party will be announced shortly. Visit facebook.com/bunnygangband to keep up on the happenings of Maxwell’s group of conscious rebel rockers. Tune in to Music Buzz LIVE Radio Wednesday’s from 6-9 pm on callywoodradio.com.
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