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12/10/2006

Three Exhibitions

Jonathan LeVine Gallery, New York

Isabel Samaras: Ex Animo

New York, NY September 2006: Jonathan LeVine Gallery is pleased to present Ex Animo, Isabel Samaras’ first solo exhibition in New York. In her series of narrative paintings, Samaras focuses on a new direction in her work, presenting a world where dark, elusive desires become reality. Samaras examines alternate realities, re-imagining gothic romances with happy endings. Ill-fated journeys turn into enchanting honeymoons and surprising love connections.

For Ex Animo, Samaras replaces her recognizable TV characters with new personal models of expression. A hand, an abandoned and forgotten part of humanity, takes on a life of its own, or gets into mischief. Love and attraction, a reoccurring theme in Samaras’ work, are illuminated through symbols and storytelling. “I’m still presenting idyllic images since I still believe in the power of love to conquer all," explains Samaras, “but it’s tinged with a bit more darkness." For Samaras these alternate endings are pleasant antidotes to fictitious stories. She invites the viewer to be part of her humorous and heartfelt storytelling process.

To explore the depths of human connection and creation of life, however terrifying, Samaras lures us into an uncharted world, both exciting and fearsome. Challenging the status quo of a typical fairytale, Samaras plays the part of sane scientist, creating works both tender and mysterious. Each painting functions as a portrait, whose seductive, grotesque, or alarming nature plays upon viewers inhibitions, reactions and natural impulses. Painting in an early 19th century style, Samaras attributes romantic and mischievous traits to her characters, incorporating symbols and portraiture that elaborate on traditional fairy tale motifs and recreate fantastic realms. A handsome man who holds the skull of a wolf replaces a menacing animal in Samaras’ version of Little Red Riding Hood.

Inspired by science fiction and horror, especially James Whales ‘“Bride of Frankenstein", Isabel Samaras applies classical technique to her contemporary works. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, her works of erotic, TV-related pop culture characters have been featured in Juxtapoz Magazine, Metropolitan Magazine, The San Francisco Examiner, NextMonet.com, Chico-Enterprise Record, Reflex, Axcess Magazine, Art Prostitute, Carbon 14, International Tattoo Art Magazine. Works have also been published in Pop Surrealism: The Rise of Underground Art and Weirdo Deluxe: the Wild World of Pop Surrealism and Lobrow Art. Her work was featured in Jonathan LeVine Gallery’s 2005 opening exhibition in New York, Pop Pluralism.

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Randal Sellers: Clairvoyants and Other Survivors

For his first solo exhibition of new works at Jonathan LeVine Gallery, Clairvoyants & Other Survivors, Randall Sellers continues his meticulous exploration of drawings of imaginary landscapes and figures. Using .3mm mechanical pencils, filed down to a point on an emery board, Sellers’ impossibly miniscule landscapes are an exercise in concentration that pushes the limits of our visual experience. Clairvoyants & Other Survivors highlights a new direction for Sellers, including his most complex drawing to date, featuring delightful vignettes within inexplicable landscapes. Viewers will enjoy a playful exercise in ocular concentration using magnifying glasses provided at the exhibition.

Sellers presents unreachable worlds that are both deeply personal and universal, juxtaposing fear, fantasy, and adventure in post-apocalyptic, exotic urban environments. Drawing from imagination, memory, and observation, Sellers’ landscapes are layered with multiple narratives. Curious renderings that surface from his subconscious include elegant women cavorting with men in suits amidst a backdrop of ruins, sci-fi towers, hillside grottoes, and abandoned airliners overgrown with weeds. Books, skulls and Minotaurs allude to symbolic references, however his miniature worlds remain unsolved mysteries.

In creating quiet, conservative renderings, Sellers formulates oblique references to geopolitics and taboos, his fabricated worlds inviting contemporary cultural scrutiny. Through painstaking technique and detailed execution, Seller’s creates dense labyrinths, alternate universes with mythological undertones that evoke a cornucopia of uncertainties.

Sellers’ early influences include Mad Magazine, Richard Scarry, a book of sci-fi illustrations, and classic music. His later influences include Pieter Breugel, Jean-Auguste Dominque, Mark Ryden, Lewis Mumford, Bernard Rudofsky, Italo Calvino, and Italian film director Federico Fellini. Sellers developed an avid fascination and obsession for topography and city infrastructures, as well as ancient history, architecture, and anthropomorphism that has shaped his distinct style and embodies his work.

A graduate of Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, including studies at Temple University in Rome, Italy, Randall Sellers and has received national and international acclaim, exhibiting in solo shows in Santa Monica, Boston and Philadelphia, and group shows at the John Michael Kohler Art Center in Wisconsin and Tomio Koyama Gallery in Tokyo. Sellers’ work has been acquired by numerous institutions including: Museum of Modern Art (Judith Rothschild Collection), Philadelphia Museum of Art, High Museum in Atlanta, New Museum of Contemporary Art (Altoids Collection), and 21C Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. Sellers’ work has been reviewed in Art Review, Philadelphia Magazine, Philadelphia Weekly, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and Artnet.com.

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Friendly Fire: Four From The East Friendly Fire: Four From The East, a group exhibition featuring works by Ray Caesar, AJ Fosik, Dan Kennedy and Jonathan Weiner, will be on view in at Berman / Turner Projects in Santa Monica, California, at Gallery C2 this October 14th through November 11th.

Friendly Fire: Four From The East, addresses the geographic accessibility of four artists at the forefront of an expanding contemporary art movement. Curated by Jonathan LeVine of Jonathan LeVine Gallery, the exhibition offers exposure for these artists to a West coast audience and gives collectors and fans an opportunity to view new works up-close and in person. Friendly Fire: Four From The East will be the first West coast group show featuring the four New York represented artists.

Caesar, Fosik, Kennedy and Weiner present individual themes, touching upon the mysterious, bizarre, and subconscious, foreboding threats and intricacies of the human psyche. The eclectic mix of artistic styles, seemingly clash in their juxtaposition and technique, yet create rich, overlapping narratives. Caesar’s mesmerizing digital renderings embody elements of childhood nostalgia, and mysteries of birth and rebirth—the core of art and creation. AJ Fosik presents folk art inspired sculptures and paintings representing images and iconography from past traditions, both real and fabricated. Kennedy’s pop culture icons in multi-layered construction illustrate the depths of the human collective unconscious. Weiner’s seductive characters amidst foreboding landscapes and peculiar domestic environments project elements of fear and anxiety.

These stunning visual presentations are windows into the artists’ fascination with the complex human condition. Through narrative, adventure, and fantasy, they entice the viewer and engage the imagination, inviting us to look beyond what meets the eye.

On View October 14th - November 11th 2006 Private

Press Preview: Friday, October 13th, from 7pm-9pm

Jonathan LeVine Gallery
529 West 20th Street, 9th Fl - New York

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