David X Levine:
Color + Form = X
On view January 16 through February 20, 2021.
In his second solo exhibition with the gallery, New York-based artist, David X Levine, presents a fresh perspective on his work--ripe with nostalgia, an appreciation of pop culture, and a devotion to the infinity of color. Working only with colored pencil, DXL creates precise, saturated drawings, informed by poetry and defined by vivid colors and abstract forms. These intense drawings are direct and pictorial, resulting in unexpected familiarity and humor.
At first, the drawings appear stark, unnaturally precise, and perfect. There is a harshness to them that is amplified by their calculated form and a rigidity that mimics machine-made design. Tempering this seriousness, however, is a poetic dedication to color. Grounded by playful shapes and bizarre titles (Janis Joplin would understand, Black Caesar Starring Miley Cyrus), the work of David X Levine is deeply introspective yet retains the purity of a child’s coloring book. Facilitating this distinctive balance of formality and sensitivity is a medium almost unrecognizable as colored pencil; a quality that is aesthetically unique and fitting.
Color + Form = X introduces David X Levine’s most recent X series, offering a timely encounter with an unwinnable childhood game or any other association one could make. In its composition and color combinations, the series creates a tension between our perceptions of the X as a letter, shape, or signifier. The artist plays on the passive utility of the X and elevates it to the status of fine art, calling us to recognize the ubiquity of the form in our everyday lives.