Praz-Delavallade Los Angeles presents American artist Dan Levenson with Recent Work. The gallery hosted an opening art party on September 16, 2023. The solo exhibition runs through October 14, 2023.
Praz-Delavallade Dan Levenson
Dan Levenson’s Recent Work, includes a series of hypnotic paintings based on concentric circles, large-scale paintings in shades of black, as well as works on paper. All works are done in oil, and artificially aged through a variety of processes. Also, they are signed with a unique name that Levenson imagines belonged to a student of the State Art Academy, Zürich (SKZ for short), a bygone, modernist school of the artist’s own invention.
Blaise Ruegg, 2023, oil and graphite on linen, 66 1/4 x 93 1/2 in (168.3 x 237.5 cm)
On the surface, Levenson’s geometric exercises recall various schools – Bauhaus, Black Mountain College, as well as Russian Constructivism – and exhibit those formal concerns so championed by modernism. However, through the narrative of the SKZ, his simulation of time’s ravages upon materials, and the inclusion not only of artworks but studio paraphernalia, Levenson slyly embraces the very sense of theatricality that modernism largely and famously eschewed. Set apart from “zombie formalism,” Levenson’s work is undead yet aware, inviting us to grapple with the contested history of the 20th century as it entertains questions – philosophical, ideological and pedagogical – about the nature and purpose of individual expression. Ultimately, these works create a sort of alienated modernism. They evoke failures of past artistic movements and a longing for a lost utopian spirit.
About Praz-Delavallade
The gallery founded in 1995 in Paris has a relationship with both American and European artists. Its inaugural exhibition included work by Paul McCarthy, Mike Kelley, Richard Petitbon, Jim Shaw, and Benjamin Weisman. In 1997, Praz-Delavallade was part of a burgeoning art scene in the 13th arrondissement on the eastern side of Paris. In 2010, the Paris gallery moved to its current location at 5 rue des Haudriettes in the Marais. It continued its support of Los Angeles based artists. In the fall of 2016, Praz-Delavallade opened a new outpost at 6150 Wilshire Boulevard.
On view: September 16, 2023 – October 14, 2023
What: Recent Work, Dan Levenson
Where: Praz-Delavallade Los Angeles, 6150 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90048
When: Running through October 14, 2023
Website: https://www.praz-delavallade.com/
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