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Jonathan LeVine
Jonathan LeVine (born 1968) is a New York art dealer. The group of artists he represents include many [prominent figures] in pop surrealism, [lowbrow], and [street art]. He currently owns and operates the Jonathan LeVine Gallery which is located in the Chelsea area of Manhattan at 529 West 20th Street, on the 9th floor.

Early years
Jonathan LeVine was born in 1968 and grew up in Trenton, New Jersey. During his teenage years in the early 1980s, he first encountered the countercultural art forms that he would spend his adult life championing. It was a seemingly odd assortment: posters advertising rock shows, punk flyers, hard-to-find underground comics, illustrated zines, graffiti, hot rods, tattoos, and paintings by artists who melded [surrealist] techniques with a [pop] sensibility, which came to be called [lowbrow]. Somehow, perhaps because all of the of the above were ignored by the mainstream art establishment, these countercultural art forms made perfect sense together. Jonathan watched as they developed over the next several years, but in the 1990s, there wasn’t a single gallery or venue on the east coast that this nascent group of artists could call home.

Independent curator
While attending [Montclair State University] as a fine arts and sculpture major, Jonathan decided that the best way to promote these art forms would be to show these artists in the same venues that were home bases for their musical counterparts. As a musician himself, he knew right where to go. Beginning in 1995, at the age of twenty-six, he curated art shows at the legendary punk and alternative music havens [CBGB] in Manhattan and [Maxwell’s] in Hoboken, along with Manhattan nightspots [Webster Hall] and [Max Fish].

Before punk had a name, CBGB had given it a home. By curating art shows there and at Maxwell’s early on, Jonathan LeVine gave a home to this yet-to-be-named art movement, showing current luminaries including [Ron English], [Daniel Johnston], [Shepard Fairey], [Coop], [Frank Kozik], [Jim Houser], [Derek Hess], and many more. The work was hard and not financially rewarding for Jonathan. As a freelance curator for CBGB, organizing five shows a year, his real task was to draw a crowd, since bar sales were what made the shows worthwhile to CBGB. The time-consuming process of organizing art shows taught him key lessons in building solid relationships with artists and collectors – as well as how to draw a crowd.

At this time in the middle and late 1990s, there were still few formal art galleries on either coast that were devoted to the kind of work Jonathan assembled in his shows, but the then-quarterly and hard-to-find magazine [Juxtapoz] was doing its part to corral its disparate fan base. In 1997, Jonathan had the opportunity to curate shows while he directed the Ozone Gallery in Manhattan for three months. While there, he put together the ‘Lords of the Lowbrow’ show - featuring Juxtapoz’s founder [Robert Williams], along with [Joe Coleman], [Gary Panter], [Anthony Ausgang], [David Sandlin], and Ron English. As the years progressed, Jonathan’s group of artists grew in their own popularity and came to rely on him for much of their exposure on the east coast.

Tin Man Alley
In February of 2001, Jonathan LeVine opened his own gallery and called it Tin Man Alley. First located at 12 Mechanics Street in the small tourist town of New Hope, Pennsylvania midway between New York and Philadelphia, Tin Man Alley initially also sold vintage toys and novelty items to help support the gallery part of the business. Before long, though, the business was fully supported by art sales. Juxtapoz Magazine was leading collectors to his door, bringing a base of clients who could — thanks to the recently ubiquitous Internet — also buy work after seeing online images from artists they already recognized. His second show at the New Hope space was a blockbuster called “The New Surrealists” in 2001, a three-man show featuring [Mark Ryden], [Eric White], and [Joe Sorren]. Following this came a solo exhibition for [Shag] with two to four person shows featuring artists such as [Glen Barr], [Chris Mars], [Jeff Soto], [Jonathan Weiner], and [Jim Houser]. In late 2002, Jonathan moved Tin Man Alley gallery to 608 N. 2nd Street in Philadelphia, in the city’s Northern Liberties neighborhood. His opening show in Philly featured Jonathan Weiner, Jeff Soto, and [Daniel Peacock] in an exhibition called “The Uncertainty Principle.” In 2003 and 2004, [Gary Baseman], [Tim Biskup], [Scott Musgrove], [Andrew Brandou], and [Dalek] all had solo shows. Group shows with themes that ranged from Shriners fez imagery to an exhibition guest curated by [Jordin Isip] that gave artists such as Joseph Hart and [Will Buzzell] important exposure early on in their careers. When he opened his gallery, Jonathan had chosen New Hope and Philadelphia for economic reasons: it was less expensive to operate there than in New York City. But it soon became clear that a move to New York was in the near future.

Jonathan LeVine Gallery
In January of 2005, Jonathan moved his gallery to its current location at 529 West 20th Street, amidst the art world’s epicenter, in the heart of [Chelsea]. Beginning with a bang, his opening show, [“Pop Pluralism”] signaled what was to come, with works from [Ray Caesar], the [Clayton Brothers], [Lori Earley], [Camille Rose Garcia], [Doze Green], [Seonna Hong], [MARS-1], and [Liz McGrath]. The new space was far larger than the Philadelphia one, and the legitimacy of a Chelsea location was too much to pass up. By this time it was clear to Jonathan that these underground art forms were here to stay. In fact, it was debatable whether they were all that underground anymore. By now, most of the artists on LeVine’s roster had published monograph books, they had lengthy press resumes, they were known worldwide, and Jonathan was selling their works to important art collectors and celebrities.

A testament to Jonathan’s success is that many of the artists he showed in his early years with CBGB’s and Maxwell’s—and through the years in New Hope and Philadelphia—are still showing with him to this day. Subsequent solo shows at the Chelsea space included many of his long-term artists in addition to [Adam Wallacavage], Camille Rose Garcia, [David Choe], [Mark Dean Veca], [Miss Van], and [Souther Salazar], among others.

In June of 2007, for [Shepard Fairey’s] solo exhibition [‘E Pluribus Venom’] LeVine used not only his Chelsea space, but also a secondary temporary space in the [DUMBO] section of Brooklyn. Fairey’s popularity drew a crowd of over two thousand people to the Brooklyn opening, with a line that stretched for blocks. The successful, chaotic event gathered a full, front-page [article] in the Arts section of the New York Times. It was clear by this time that Shepard, like several of the artists represented by Jonathan, was without a doubt one of the most well known of his generation.

Jonathan has also begun to work with more artists from overseas. In February of 2007, he held 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”] featuring São Paulo street legends like [Zezão], [Onesto], [Speto], [Boleta], [Fefê], [Kboco], [Highraff] and [Titi Freak]. Soon after that, renowned Brazilian artist [Vitche] had a solo show at the gallery. In December 2007, Jonathan had another international street art show called [“The Streets of Europe”] featuring artists from France, England, and Italy, including [Blek Le Rat], [Blu], [Bo130], [D*Face], [Microbo], and [Space Invader].

Continuing the exchange that had begun the previous year with “Ruas de Sao Paulo,” in early 2008, Jonathan LeVine Gallery took several of their artists abroad for an exhibition in Brazil called [“Made in America”] once again collaborating with Choque Cultural Gallery in São Paulo. “Made in America” featured work by eleven of Jonathan’s American artists, four of whom traveled to Brazil to be present for the opening.

Moving forward, Jonathan LeVine Gallery’s goal in organizing this series of international exhibitions is to help create a visual dialogue within our global community, a creative exchange that transcends class and cultural differences while crossing geographical borders. The objective is to promote freedom of expression through exposing new artwork to people in different cities worldwide.

Additional Links to Press
[ArtInfo] [Nylon Magazine]