“Winter Invitational” Exhibition
Jonathan Levine Gallery (557C W 23rd St.)
[Image: Untitled A (2016) by DALeast]
This event has ended.
Jonathan LeVine Gallery present our annual Winter Invitational, a group exhibition featuring the following artists: Alex Gardner, Ashley Wood, Ben Sack, DALeast, Fulvio di Piazza, Jamie Adams, Jansson Stegner, João Ruas, Kevin Peterson, Lawrence Berzon, Mear One, Sam Wolfe Connolly and Soey Milk.
Alex Gardner is currently based in Los Angeles, California. In 2011, he received a fine art degree from California State University, Long Beach. Identity is a central theme for the Afro-Japanese artist, with much of his work featuring anonymous figures painted in deep black as a way of using skin tone to challenge the way viewers identify with what they see.
Ashley Wood was born in 1971 and is currently based in Perth, Australia. He is an award winning illustrator who got his start in the international comic book world before breaking into the U.S. market, working for companies such as Marvel and DC. Wood is highly regarded for his fine art work in a variety of mediums, including oil and acrylic painting and sculpture. In 2012, he had his debut solo exhibition at Jonathan LeVine Gallery.
Ben Sack received a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2011. Inspired by art history and classical music, his pen and ink drawings explore architecture as a medium capable of expressing the relationship between realism and abstraction. In 2015, he exhibited at SCOPE Art Fair with Robert Fontaine Gallery and his work has been featured in the Huffington Post.
DALeast was born in 1984 in Wuhan, China and is currently based in Cape Town, South Africa. He studied sculpture at the Institute of Fine Arts and began making art in public spaces in 2004. His murals can be found in cities around the world, including the United States, Switzerland, Namibia, France, Israel, Australia and China, and he has had two solo exhibitions at Jonathan LeVine Gallery.
Fulvio Di Piazza was born in 1969 in Siracusa, Italy and is currently based in Palermo, Italy. He studied at Urbino Art Academy and in 2011 his work was included in the Italian Pavilion of the 54th Venice Biennale. The following year he had his debut solo exhibition at Jonathan LeVine Gallery. His work has also been exhibited at galleries in Milan, Los Angeles and London.
Jamie Adams was born in born 1961 and is currently based in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh where he obtained a BFA with honors in 1983. In 2000, he earned an MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. His work is represented in the permanent public collections of Museu Brasileiro da Escultura (São Paulo, Brazil), Museum of Modern Art Library (New York), MOMA (Wales) and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Research Library. His has been featured in publications such as Art in America and the book Fragonard, Regards croisés.
Jansson Stegner was born in 1972 in Denver, Colorado and is currently based in New York City. He has previously exhibited at Mike Weiss Gallery (New York) and The Saatchi Gallery (London). His work has been featured in publications such as Art in America, The New Yorker and Time Out New York.
João Ruas was born in 1981 and is currently based in São Paulo, Brazil. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and has had four solo exhibitions at Thinkspace Gallery in Los Angeles. His work has been featured in publications such as WIRED, Playboy and The Sunday Times (UK).
Kevin Peterson was born in 1979 in Elko, Nevada and is currently based in Houston, Texas. In 2001, he received degrees in fine art and psychology from Austin College in Sherman, Texas. He describes his paintings as being about trauma, fear, loneliness and the strength that it takes to survive in a world that is broken.
Lawrence Berzon is currently based in New York City and has been working as a painter, sculptor and illustrator for nearly thirty years. He began his studies at the Art Students League in New York City and also attended the Rhode Island School of Design, the San Francisco Art Institute and the New York Academy of Art. His work has been featured in publications such as Art in America, NY Arts and the LA Times, as well as on notable television shows, including the Oprah Winfrey Show and ABC News.
Mear One (Kalen Ockerman) was born in 1971 in Santa Cruz, California and has been at the forefront of Los Angeles graffiti and mural culture for nearly three decades. He is acclaimed for pioneering the Melrose graffiti art movement in the late 1980s and is considered by many to be LA’s most prolific public muralist. His work was featured in the landmark exhibition Art in the Streets (2011) at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.
Sam Wolfe Connelly was born in 1988 in Virginia and is currently based in New York City. In 2011, he graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design with a degree in illustration. Inspired by grave robbing and underground mining, his drawings evoke a sense of nostalgic sadness.
Soey Milk was born in 1989 in Seoul, Korea and moved to the United States at the age of eleven. She graduated from the Pasadena Art Center in 2014 and is currently based in Los Angeles, California. Working primarily with watercolors and oil paint, her interest in human anatomy has fostered a photorealistic style. UYO is an alias used by Milk when creating her more erotic pieces. She will be featured in the upcoming documentary Temple of Art, which follows over 50 artists’ creative process and philosophies, asking each of them the question, “Why do you make art?”
Media
Schedule
from February 20, 2016 to March 19, 2016
Opening Reception on 2016-02-20 from 18:00 to 20:00