Jonathan LeVine
Encyclopedia
Jonathan LeVine is a New York City
art dealer
. As of 2005, he owns and operates the Jonathan LeVine Gallery, in the Chelsea
area of Manhattan
. LeVine has been instrumental in the promotion and proliferation of lowbrow
and street art
on the east coast.
LeVine recognized the potential commercial appeal of countercultural aesthetics including punk flyers, comics, graffiti and tattoos. Beginning in 1994, while working at Montclair State University
, LeVine became an independent curator, exhibiting this type of art at punk rock venues CBGB
, Webster Hall
, and Max Fish. The artists featured in these early exhibitions include well-known figures such as Ron English, Daniel Johnston
, and Shepard Fairey
. By the late 1990s the magazine, Juxtapoz, was exposing this pop-sensible style to a national audience.
. Tin Man Alley initially sold vintage toys and novelty items to help support the gallery, but soon the business was fully supported by art sales. Juxtapoz and the proliferation of images on the internet brought enough attention to LeVine's New Hope exhibitions to allow for the gallery's relocation to Philadelphia in late 2002. The artists featured in shows such as "The New Surrealists" and "The Uncertainty Principle" include Mark Ryden
, Shag (Josh Agle)
, Jeff Soto
, and Gary Baseman
.
's Chelsea
neighborhood. His opening show, "Pop Pluralism", included works by Ray Caesar, the Clayton Brothers
, and Camille Rose Garcia
.
In 2007, LeVine promoted graffiti art as fine art, holding a major group show in conjunction with São Paulo
's Choque Cultural gallery. Eight Brazilian street and graffiti artists traveled to New York – several for their first trip to the United States - for their exhibition called "Ruas De São Paulo." In December 2007, Jonathan had another international street art show called "The Streets of Europe" featuring artists from France, England, and Italy, including, BO130, Blek le Rat
, D*Face, and Space Invader (Invader (artist)
).
In June 2007, for Shepard Fairey’s solo exhibition "E Pluribus Venom", LeVine rented a temporary space in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn. The event was covered in the Arts section of The New York Times
.
In March 2010, LeVine's Five Year Anniversary Group Exhibition was featured in a full-page article in the Arts & Leisure section of The New York Times
. In addition to the article, the exhibition was showcased in a three-part interactive feature on The New York Times
website.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
art dealer
Art dealer
An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art. Art dealers' professional associations serve to set high standards for accreditation or membership and to support art exhibitions and shows.-Role:...
. As of 2005, he owns and operates the Jonathan LeVine Gallery, in the Chelsea
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
area of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. LeVine has been instrumental in the promotion and proliferation of lowbrow
Lowbrow
Lowbrow may refer to:*Lowbrow, relating to, or suitable for a person with little taste or intellectual interest* Lowbrow , describes an underground visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles, California, area in the late 1970s...
and street art
Street art
Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives...
on the east coast.
Early years
As a youth in Trenton, New JerseyTrenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
LeVine recognized the potential commercial appeal of countercultural aesthetics including punk flyers, comics, graffiti and tattoos. Beginning in 1994, while working at Montclair State University
Montclair State University
Montclair State University is a public research university located in the Upper Montclair section of Montclair, the Great Notch area of Little Falls, and Clifton, New Jersey. As of October 2009, there were 18,171 total enrolled students: 14,139 undergraduate students and 4,032 graduate students...
, LeVine became an independent curator, exhibiting this type of art at punk rock venues CBGB
CBGB
CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
, Webster Hall
Webster Hall
Webster Hall is a nightclub located at 125 East 11th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, near Astor Place, in Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1886, its current incarnation was opened by the Ballinger Brothers in 1992...
, and Max Fish. The artists featured in these early exhibitions include well-known figures such as Ron English, Daniel Johnston
Daniel Johnston
Daniel Dale Johnston is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He currently lives in Waller, Texas....
, and Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey
Frank Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary graphic designer, and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene. He first became known for his "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign, in which he appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. His...
. By the late 1990s the magazine, Juxtapoz, was exposing this pop-sensible style to a national audience.
Tin Man Alley
In February 2001, LeVine opened his own gallery, Tin Man Alley in New Hope, PennsylvaniaNew Hope, Pennsylvania
New Hope, formerly known as Coryell's Ferry, is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA. The population was 2,528 at the 2010 census. The borough lies on the west bank of the Delaware River at its confluence with Aquetong Creek. A two-lane bridge carries automobile and foot traffic across the...
. Tin Man Alley initially sold vintage toys and novelty items to help support the gallery, but soon the business was fully supported by art sales. Juxtapoz and the proliferation of images on the internet brought enough attention to LeVine's New Hope exhibitions to allow for the gallery's relocation to Philadelphia in late 2002. The artists featured in shows such as "The New Surrealists" and "The Uncertainty Principle" include Mark Ryden
Mark Ryden
-Early life:Ryden is the son of Barbara and Keith Ryden, born in Medford, Oregon but raised in Southern California. He has two sisters and two brothers, one a fellow artist named Keyth Ryden....
, Shag (Josh Agle)
SHAG (Josh Agle)
Josh Agle is an American artist, better known by the nickname SHAG.-Life:Agle's nickname is derived from the last two letters of his first name, and the first two letters of his last name...
, Jeff Soto
Jeff Soto
Jeff Soto is an American contemporary artist. His distinct color palette, subject matter and technique have been said to bridge the gap between Pop Surrealism and Street Art.-Early life:...
, and Gary Baseman
Gary Baseman
Gary Baseman is a contemporary artist who works in various creative fields, including illustration, fine art, toy design, and animation. He is the creator of the Emmy-winning ABC/Disney cartoon series, Teacher’s Pet, and the artistic designer of Cranium, a popular board game...
.
Jonathan LeVine Gallery
In January 2005, LeVine moved his gallery to ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Chelsea
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
neighborhood. His opening show, "Pop Pluralism", included works by Ray Caesar, the Clayton Brothers
Clayton Brothers
Rob Clayton and Christian Clayton are painters based in California.Both Rob and Christian Clayton hold BFA degrees from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California .Their work has been exhibited widely throughout America and Europe, and has been featured in several important shows...
, and Camille Rose Garcia
Camille Rose Garcia
Camille Rose Garcia is a Los Angeles-based lowbrow artist. she produces paintings, prints and sculpture in a gothic, "creepy" cartoon style. She cites as influences Walt Disney and Philip K. Dick. - Biography :...
.
In 2007, LeVine promoted graffiti art as fine art, holding a major group show in conjunction with São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
's Choque Cultural gallery. Eight Brazilian street and graffiti artists traveled to New York – several for their first trip to the United States - for their exhibition called "Ruas De São Paulo." In December 2007, Jonathan had another international street art show called "The Streets of Europe" featuring artists from France, England, and Italy, including, BO130, Blek le Rat
Blek le Rat
Blek le Rat, born Xavier Prou in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris in 1952, was one of the first graffiti artists in Paris, and has been described as the “Father of Stencil Graffiti” .-Early career and Influence:...
, D*Face, and Space Invader (Invader (artist)
Invader (artist)
Invader is a French urban artist who pastes up characters from and inspired by the Space Invaders game, made up of small coloured square mosaic tiles that form a space invader character murel...
).
In June 2007, for Shepard Fairey’s solo exhibition "E Pluribus Venom", LeVine rented a temporary space in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn. The event was covered in the Arts section of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
.
In March 2010, LeVine's Five Year Anniversary Group Exhibition was featured in a full-page article in the Arts & Leisure section of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. In addition to the article, the exhibition was showcased in a three-part interactive feature on The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
website.
Selected artists represented
- Esao AndrewsEsao AndrewsEsao Andrews is an American painter, working with oil on wood panels. His work blends Gothic grotesque, erotic and surrealism.-Life:Andrews was born and grew up in Mesa, Arizona where he attended Red Mountain High School...
- Gary BasemanGary BasemanGary Baseman is a contemporary artist who works in various creative fields, including illustration, fine art, toy design, and animation. He is the creator of the Emmy-winning ABC/Disney cartoon series, Teacher’s Pet, and the artistic designer of Cranium, a popular board game...
- Tim BiskupTim BiskupTim Biskup is an American artist generally considered to be a part of the group that has been dubbed "lowbrow" or pop surrealism...
- Blek le RatBlek le RatBlek le Rat, born Xavier Prou in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris in 1952, was one of the first graffiti artists in Paris, and has been described as the “Father of Stencil Graffiti” .-Early career and Influence:...
- Ray Caesar
- David ChoeDavid ChoeDavid Choe is an American painter, muralist, graffiti artist and graphic novelist of Korean descent. He achieved art world success with his "dirty style" figure paintings—raw, frenetic works which combine themes of desire, degradation, and exaltation...
- Dave CooperDave CooperDavid Charles Cooper is a cartoonist, commercial illustrator and a graphic designer who lives in Ottawa, Canada. In addition to comics, Cooper has worked extensively as a designer, producer, and creator in the field of animation...
- Dan WitzDan WitzDan Witz is a Brooklyn, NY based street artist and realist painter. He grew up in Chicago, IL, and graduated in 1981 from Cooper Union, on New York City's Lower East Side. Witz, consistently active since the late 1970s, is one of the pioneers of the street art movement.Dan Witz's paintings have...
- D*Face
- Lori EarleyLori EarleyLori Earley is an American pop surrealist artist who specializes in painting portraits of women.-Life and work: Lori Earley was born in Rye, New York. She studied oil painting at the School of Visual Arts in New York where she received an Illustration BFA in 1995. Her work has appeared in several...
- Shepard FaireyShepard FaireyFrank Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary graphic designer, and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene. He first became known for his "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign, in which he appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. His...
- Camille Rose GarciaCamille Rose GarciaCamille Rose Garcia is a Los Angeles-based lowbrow artist. she produces paintings, prints and sculpture in a gothic, "creepy" cartoon style. She cites as influences Walt Disney and Philip K. Dick. - Biography :...
- Doze Green (of Rock Steady CrewRock Steady CrewRock Steady Crew is a b-boying crew and hip hop group that was established in the Bronx, New York City in 1977. The group was initially formed by b-boys named Jimmy D and Jojo. In subsequent years, Rock Steady Crew became a franchise name for groups in other locations. The Manhattan branch was...
) - Audrey KawasakiAudrey KawasakiAudrey Kawasaki is a Los Angeles-based painter, known for her distinctive, erotically charged portrayals of young, adolescent women...
- Chris MarsChris MarsChris Mars is an American artist and musician. He was the drummer for seminal Minneapolis, Minnesota alternative rock band The Replacements and later joined informal supergroup Golden Smog before launching a solo career. He is also a painter, and has more or less left music behind to concentrate...
- Tara McPhersonTara McPhersonTara McPherson is an American artist based out of New York City. She studied art at Santa Monica Community College and earned her BFA from Art Center in Pasadena, CA in August 2001 with honors in Illustration and a minor in Fine Art, working on Matt Groening's Futurama during college.-Career:Tara...
- Todd SchorrTodd SchorrTodd Schorr is an American artist and one of the most prominent members of the "Lowbrow" art movement or pop surrealism...
- Shag (Josh Agle)SHAG (Josh Agle)Josh Agle is an American artist, better known by the nickname SHAG.-Life:Agle's nickname is derived from the last two letters of his first name, and the first two letters of his last name...
- Jeff SotoJeff SotoJeff Soto is an American contemporary artist. His distinct color palette, subject matter and technique have been said to bridge the gap between Pop Surrealism and Street Art.-Early life:...
- Space InvaderInvader (artist)Invader is a French urban artist who pastes up characters from and inspired by the Space Invaders game, made up of small coloured square mosaic tiles that form a space invader character murel...
- Gary TaxaliGary TaxaliGary Taxali is an illustrator living in Toronto, Canada.He was born in Chandigarh, India in 1968. A year later his family immigrated to Toronto, Canada. There his parent encouraged him to take art classes. In 1991 he graduated from Ontario College of Art and soon after began working as a...
- Mark Dean VecaMark Dean VecaMark Dean Veca is an American artist based in Brooklyn, New York. He creates paintings, drawings and large-scale installations.- Biography :...