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For those of us in the art world Jonathan LeVine is practically a household name. For those who just like art, if you’re not familiar with Mr. LeVine himself you surely know the artists he represents.
LeVine started out as an independent curator in New York before opening a small gallery just outside Philadelphia. From there he moved into Philly proper for two years before making his way back to New York just five years ago.
In the late eighties and early nineties LeVine was putting together shows in bars that focused on illustration, underground comics, rock & roll covers, poster art, and the like. He was motivated primarily by the fact that the art he liked wasn’t considered legitimate art and what was didn’t interest him.
Today we consider LeVine’s old school art interests a formal art genre, however the movement that 20 odd years ago barely existed, has now morphed into something completely different. But LeVine has just continued to develop the niche of artists that he believes in without much regard to trends and labels.
Many people are quick to label LeVine’s gallery as an “urban art gallery”, but two-thirds of the work he represents is what people used to call “low-brow” or “pop-surrealism.” The term “urban art” is widely (mis)used in a synonymous fashion with “street art” and in fact works that should be considered “street” are fairly new to the gallery.
Today’s “street art” is something very different from it origins. In the beginning street art was associated strictly with graffiti and hip-hop culture and less so with narrative and figurative style painting. But LeVine says, “It’s not up to me to decide what’s what. I just show what I like, and I show the work that I think is important.”
For LeVine what’s important is work that transcends labels and stereotypes and ultimately work that transcends the imagery that is being depicted. “It’s work that represents a generational shift in the fine art world, in terms of work that is accessible and that uses a language that is understood by this generation. That being a visual language as we grew up in the age of television.”
One thing that LeVine searches for in the work of artists that he represents is the level of visual communication that is established between the viewer and the image. “Visual art is made because the message can’t be said. You are not going to be able to talk about an exceptional piece of work in a way that illuminates what it does any more than its existence and the experience of seeing it.”
However, not all work is able to communicate on such a transcendental level. “Everyone is not supposed to be able to do it. When it all falls apart the only artists, gallerists, and dealers who will be left standing are the ones with merit, who are doing it for the right reasons, not to manipulate the market or take advantage of it in some way. Art isn’t a priority in people’s lives. It’s a luxury item and it shouldn’t be easy. Only the best should rise to the top.”
Cheers to that.