Wolff was appointed the Official ArtExpo Artist of the Millennium and has spearheaded a multi-million dollar advertising campaign for ArtExpo South Miami 2000. This campaign chose his painting Autumn Mask to appear on 22 billboards, 350 airport/public transportation advertisements, 350,000 Sun-Sentinel Posters, Festival Posters, Festival Banners, and in multiple film and media formats. Wolff was chosen out of an applicant pool of over 1000 artists to hold this distinct honor.

A Media Party, featuring Wolff and the subject painting Autumn Mask was held in early January of 2000, followed by the two day show on January 8 and 9. The party included the unveiling of the framed painting. Additional news coverage will include a number of interviews, articles, and photography sessions.

Autumn Mask was sold to Baseball legend Andre' Dawson for $5,000 at the ARTEXPO SHOW. 

The title sponsor of ArtExpo 2000 is Sprint and Sprint PCS. The Producer Circle includes NBC-TV-6 Network; AKMedia Outdoor Advertising; Sun-Sentinel Community News; Miami-Dade Transit Authority; Clear Channel Broadcasting and its five South Florida Affiliates; WTMI 93.1 FM; Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald; Hampton Inn-Coral Gables; Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Florida; Advance Radio Systems-Motorola; City of South Miami; Koo Koo Roo California Restaurants; Greater Miami Conventions and Visitors Bureau; International Festivals and Events Association; Bristol Bank; The Cultural Affairs Council of South Miami; and many other friends of the arts that will contribute products and services for the event.

The Autumn Mask is a hybrid of the mythical waters of Atlantis and the ice of Antarctica. In the painting of the mask, an Atlantean trident can be seen in the upper-right corner. Fragments of Antarctica can be found in the whites of the painting’s eyes. As its name implies, the mask was forged in the fall, by a blacksmith who insisted on shaping all his creations by the light of burning leaves. He lived in the mountains of North Carolina during the late 1800's, and is credited as having said that the means by which the materials necessary to create the Autumn Mask came to him were, "a mystery to me." He did assert, however, that the mask was created with the hope that it might be worn by a hero or heroine in the war for peace, a war that could only be waged through the vehicles of art and poetry.

Just before the old blacksmith died, his faithful anvil metamorphosed into a blue butterfly, which has accompanied the Autumn Mask on its journey ever since. The mask is flecked with hints of green, remnants of the spring, in which chlorophyll is both jester, queen, and king. It is the breakdown, the fading of this chlorophyll which leads to the vibrant colors of autumn leaves. The characteristic array of warm colors are the photopigments which remain when the chlorophyll drops away.

Since the time the Autumn Mask left the ruins of the blacksmith’s shop, it has migrated steadfastly towards the equator, guided by forces both aesthetic and arcane. For many years the mask was believed to have been lost forever, but it was not lost, only traveling. It stowed away on a farmer’s wagon and had several mystical conversations with a needle in a bale of hay. It swam along the Atlantic coast with sharks and porpoises. It roamed like Don Quixote in search of nobility. It fell irrevocably in love with a bright orange Georgia peach. It spoke up for justice and spoke out against slavery. It maintained its resplendent colors despite the rain’s insistent washing. And no matter what attacked it, from bulldogs to shotgun wielding thugs to owls, the Autumn mask still found its way south.

In accordance with the legend of the Autumn Mask, it was recovered at the turn of the century by Wolff, also known as The Primordialist Prince. He found the mask sleeping in a pile of oak leaves. The Autumn Mask was at that moment dreaming of Wolff’s face. He picked it up and placed the mask simultaneously over his art and soul, then looked out upon the world. Through the mask’s haunting, autumnal eyes, he witnessed a great Winter approaching, a Primordialist Winter in a Primordialist Century, in which art instead of bitter cold would reign. The Autumn Mask was soon after adopted as the banner of an artists’ army in Miami, Florida, led by General Jorge Garcia, outfitted with the finest shoes on the planet, and dedicated to the belief that art of any form is worth struggling, fighting, and even dying for.

WOLFF'S POETRY BOOKS  HOME