Michael LeVell

June 29, 2018–September 15, 2018
Several works installed in a gallery. Twelve paintings are installed in a row along the walls. In the foreground, five miniature sculptures are mounted on a white pedestal.

Michael Levell, installation view, 2018

Five miniature sculptures arranged on a white pedestal, including two armchairs with ottomans, a sofa, a short bookcase and a sideboard.

Michael Levell, installation view, 2018

Michael Levell, installation view, 2018 (A close up view of two of the five untitled, miniature ceramic sculptures of furniture. On the left is an end table with three decorative sculptures on top, a small radio, bowl, and a cup with writing utensils on the middle shelf, and a framed picture and a stack of books on the bottom shelf. On the right is a mid-Century George Nelson-style sofa. Both works are hand-built.)

Michael Levell, installation view, 2018

Four miniature sculptures arranged on a pedestal. From left to right, the sculptures represent a sideboard, a sofa, and two contemporary armchairs with ottomans.

Michael Levell, installation view, 2018

A white pedestal with five ceramic sculptures placed on it, standing before floor to ceiling shaded windows in a gallery. Eight paintings are installed on the walls to its left and right.

Michael Levell, installation view, 2018

A close-up view of three wall-mounted paintings. All depict interior, domestic settings and are rendered precisely in a loose manner, incorporating shades of yellow, light brown and cream.

Michael Levell, installation view, 2018

Michael Levell, installation view, 2018 (A close up view of an untitled painting that depicts a bed with checkered bedding that takes up most of the composition, a piece of brown furniture in the lower right corner, a side table that has a vase full of flowers, and an armchair that's cropped on the top right corner.)

Michael Levell, installation view, 2018

A painting depicting the interior of a room with two brown chairs and a white table. Above the table, a tiled counter is attached to a green wall. The floor is light green.

Michael LeVell

Untitled, 2010

Acrylic and ink on paper

15 × 21 inches

A miniature sculpture representing a contemporary armchair and a small coffee table or ottoman. The ceramic glaze gives the sculpture a rusted or oxidized appearance.

Michael LeVell

Untitled, 2015

Ceramic

2 × 6 × 3 inches

Press Release

Presented in association with First Street Gallery, Claremont, CA and CONDO New York

White Columns is pleased to announce the New York debut of the Claremont, CA-based artist Michael LeVell (b. 1964.) The exhibition is presented as a part of the 2018 CONDO New York project.

LeVell, who has been diagnosed with autism, is both deaf and legally blind. LeVell is one of the eight original artists who, in 1989, helped to found the non-profit First Street Gallery Art Center in Claremont, CA. First Street Gallery supports an extraordinary community of artists living and working with mental, developmental and physical disabilities. This is White Columns’ second collaboration with First Street, following Helen Rae’s widely celebrated solo exhibition in 2017.

LeVell’s exhibition at White Columns will take the form of an intimate survey of his work produced over the past decade, and will include a group of acrylic paintings on paper and a number of hand-built ceramic sculptures. LeVell’s work draws inspiration from the mid-century architecture and contemporary domestic spaces as depicted in the pages of Architectural Digest. (LeVelll has an extensive and treasured collection of the magazine.) In his translation and editing of these photographic sources, LeVell introduces new color schemes, and his unique, reductive drawing process to create perfectly balanced, schematic images that align an extraordinary visual clarity with both formal and chromatic complexity. LeVell’s paintings are not illustrations or mimetic of his sources, rather they operate as ‘amplifications’ of both the original images and the cultures – social and aesthetic – that they represent. (LeVell is especially drawn to interiors where modern and contemporary artworks – paintings and sculptures – are on display, seamlessly incorporated within a domestic tableau.) LeVell’s ceramic sculptures of furniture – e.g. a side board, a mid-Century George Nelson-style sofa, a contemporary armchair with ottoman etc. – are modest in scale and hand-built in clay, and further explore his preoccupying and ongoing interest in the relationships between design, modernity, taste, and domesticity.

White Columns would like to thank everyone at First Street Gallery and at Tierra Del Sol for their enthusiasm and collaboration with bringing Michael LeVell’s work to New York.

Michael LeVell’s work was the subject of a retrospective in 2014 at First Street Gallery, Claremont, CA on the occasion of the organization’s 25th Anniversary.

To learn more about First Street Gallery and their artists visit: https://www.tierradelsol.org/tierra-gallery

To learn more about CONDO visit: http://www.condocomplex.org

For information or images contact: info@whitecolumns.org

Checklist

Related Press

Several works installed in a gallery. Twelve paintings are installed in a row along the walls. In the foreground, five miniature sculptures are mounted on a white pedestal.
Five miniature sculptures arranged on a white pedestal, including two armchairs with ottomans, a sofa, a short bookcase and a sideboard.
Michael Levell, installation view, 2018 (A close up view of two of the five untitled, miniature ceramic sculptures of furniture. On the left is an end table with three decorative sculptures on top, a small radio, bowl, and a cup with writing utensils on the middle shelf, and a framed picture and a stack of books on the bottom shelf. On the right is a mid-Century George Nelson-style sofa. Both works are hand-built.)
Four miniature sculptures arranged on a pedestal. From left to right, the sculptures represent a sideboard, a sofa, and two contemporary armchairs with ottomans.
A white pedestal with five ceramic sculptures placed on it, standing before floor to ceiling shaded windows in a gallery. Eight paintings are installed on the walls to its left and right.
A close-up view of three wall-mounted paintings. All depict interior, domestic settings and are rendered precisely in a loose manner, incorporating shades of yellow, light brown and cream.
Michael Levell, installation view, 2018 (A close up view of an untitled painting that depicts a bed with checkered bedding that takes up most of the composition, a piece of brown furniture in the lower right corner, a side table that has a vase full of flowers, and an armchair that's cropped on the top right corner.)
A painting depicting the interior of a room with two brown chairs and a white table. Above the table, a tiled counter is attached to a green wall. The floor is light green.
A miniature sculpture representing a contemporary armchair and a small coffee table or ottoman. The ceramic glaze gives the sculpture a rusted or oxidized appearance.

Michael Levell, installation view, 2018 (Several works installed in a gallery. Twelve paintings are installed in a row along the walls. In the foreground, five miniature sculptures are mounted on a white pedestal.)

Michael Levell, installation view, 2018 (Five miniature sculptures arranged on a white pedestal, including two armchairs with ottomans, a sofa, a short bookcase and a sideboard.)

Michael Levell, installation view, 2018 (A close-up view of two miniature sculptures. On the left is a short bookcase holding various domestic objects, while on the right is a sofa or bench on two long, wide legs.)

Michael Levell, installation view, 2018 (Four miniature sculptures arranged on a pedestal. From left to right, the sculptures represent a sideboard, a sofa, and two contemporary armchairs with ottomans.)

Michael Levell, installation view, 2018 (A white pedestal with five ceramic sculptures placed on it, standing before floor to ceiling shaded windows in a gallery. Eight paintings are installed on the walls to its left and right.)

Michael Levell, installation view, 2018 (A close-up view of three wall-mounted paintings. All depict interior, domestic settings and are rendered precisely in a loose manner, incorporating shades of yellow, light brown and cream.)

Michael Levell, installation view, 2018 (A close-up view of an untitled painting depicting a bed with checkered bedding and a side table with a vase filled with flowers. A hamper and an armchair are partially visible.)

Michael LeVell Untitled, 2010 Acrylic and ink on paper 15 × 21 inches (A painting depicting the interior of a room with two brown chairs and a white table. Above the table, a tiled counter is attached to a green wall. The floor is light green.)

Michael LeVell Untitled, 2015 Ceramic 2 × 6 × 3 inches (A miniature sculpture representing a contemporary armchair and a small coffee table or ottoman. The ceramic glaze gives the sculpture a rusted or oxidized appearance.)