‘Green’ Art Show Highlights New ‘Gallery House’ in Clinton Hill

by Harold Egeln

“Style of Nature” artist Jonathan Levy next to one of his Humming River paintings at the new Gallery House in Clinton Hill.

Exhibit Helps Council on Environment

By Harold Egeln
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

CLINTON HILL – An impressive 19th century brownstone that developing into a new arts venue here is housing an exhibit that benefits both the idea of the human spirit reconnecting with nature and the Council on the Environment of NYC.

The show in question is the “Style of Nature” solo art exhibit by Jonathan Levy. It is in the first-floor space of a five-story 1877 brownstone called “Gallery House” at 272 Clinton Ave., an exciting new venue that celebrates the arts in all forms.

Gallery House and the inspirational show opened on July 24 with a reception followed by a second reception over this past weekend. At other times the exhibit can be viewed by appointment only by contacting Gallery House.

The venue is a gift of joy to its restorers and artistic community, said Levy, a Pratt Institute fine arts graduate. “The silent investors want to use this space as a way of giving back to the community. We’re grateful for their commitment,” he explained.

“This is a fantastic place to work and be in,” said architect Patrick Malloy, another Pratt Institute graduate who is part of the working group restoring Gallery House. “We’re fortunate to be in a great neighborhood with a wonderful cross-section of people who bring their energy and involvement into the area.”

Gallery House, its mission statement says, “is a Clinton Hill-based organization dedicated to the sharing of ideas pressing our world today. Through our hosted receptions, we aim to gather and communicate ideas through art, music and other types of artistic expressions.”

The centerpiece of Gallery House’s first show is Levy’s Style of Nature solo show celebrating the patterns, movements and colors of the natural world that surrounds us but which is not usually noticed in people’s daily activities, noted Levy.

“Soon after I graduated Pratt I went to live on Maui in Hawaii in search of inspiration,” said Levy, who was on Maui from 2003 to 2008. “It was there that my eyes opened with a new perspective with my creative drive inspired by the flowers, ocean and land of that wondrous and beautiful island. There I developed my artistic style of nature as I observed the random movements and patterns in nature’s forms.”

In 2005 he first got his first show at the 27th Annual Juried Exhibit on Maui with his acrylic on canvas paintings. In the last two years he has been in several exhibits across the nation and at the International Art Expo-New York at the Javits Center in 2008 and 2009.

Levy’s paintings are a wonder to view and experience. His Humming River, Walk Under the Shadow of the Tree and Setting Sun series of paintings, and individual paintings such as Lake Nowhere, Cross the Pond and Violet make one linger near their colorful swirls. The show helps people focus on nature and gets them away from a focus of everyday activities.

Fifty percent of the sales of Levy paintings sold from this exhibit will be donated to the Council on the Environment of New York City. Levy and Malloy are excited about the opportunity to promote the appreciation and study of the urban environs through the three-decades-old council and its multifaceted work.

“Our partnership with Jonathan Levy and Gallery House for Style of Nature reflects a shared vision of preserving the natural beauty of the city,” said Council Executive Director Marcel Van Ooyen. CENYC is responsible for programs such as Greenmarkets, Open Space Greening, Environmental Education, Office of Recycling, and Learn It, Grow It and Eat It.

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Contact Gallery House
808/385 0312 or Info@galleryhouse.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GALLERY HOUSE IS PROUD TO PRESENT STYLE OF NATURE BY JONATHAN LEVY

50% of all proceeds go to Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC)

Gallery House will open its doors to the public with a solo exhibit Style of Nature by Jonathan Levy.  After July 24, the gallery will be open by appointment. Through Jonathan Levy’s work (www.styleofnature.com), he attempts to glorify Mother Nature and her creations. His paintings reflect imagery found in nature, representing mankind’s collective beginnings marked by the patterns and movements that exist around us. Ranging from the repetitive design of a flower, to the rhythm and flow of the ocean, Levy’s work, through subject matter and process, reflects the unpredictable temperament of nature. In the spirit of “green,” Gallery House is marking its Grand Opening by donating 50% of the proceeds to CENYC. “Our partnership with Jonathan Levy and Gallery House for Style Of Nature reflects a shared vision of preserving the natural beauty of New York City,” said CENYC Executive Director Marcel Van Ooyen “Like Jonathan’s philosophy, everyday CENYC staff, volunteers, and the youth we serve roll up their sleeves to create and preserve green spaces, plant trees, and restore habitats and shorelines in hopes of contributing to a healthy environment.”

What: Grand opening reception of Gallery House

When: Friday July 24, 2009 & Saturday August 8, 2009 from 7:30PM – Midnight & by appointment

Where: Gallery House 272 Clinton Ave. Brooklyn NY, 11205

About Gallery House

Galley House is a historical Brownstone dating back to 1877 and is being meticulously restored to its former glory. We are a Clinton Hill based organization dedicated to the sharing of ideas pressing our world today. Through our hosted reception, we aim to gather and communicate said ideas through art, music and other types of artistic expression. For more information, visit us at www.galleryhouse.org.

About The Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC)

The Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC) improves New York City’s quality of life through environmental programs that transform communities block by block and empower all New Yorkers to secure a clean and healthy environment for future generations.  CENYC achieves its mission through the following projects and programs: Greenmarket, which runs 49 farmers markets throughout the city; Open Space Greening, which creates and rejuvenates community gardens and builds rainwater harvesting systems; Environmental Education, which offers meaningful projects in the areas of conservation, alternative energy and more in intermediate and high schools; the Office of Recycling Outreach and Education, which promotes recycling and waste prevention; Learn It, Grow It, Eat It, which offers teens hands-on nutrition and health programming; Youth markets, which oversees youth-operated urban farm stands; and the New Farmer Development Project, which helps immigrant farmers start their own farms in the region. For more information, visit www.cenyc.org.

B’klyn Artists Exhibit At International Expo:  Flowers, Levy and Heck Show Works at Javits

By Harold Egeln
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

JAVITS CENTER — Brooklyn is a creative city for curious minds when it comes to its ever-growing community of artists, and a few members of that large community displayed their latest works at the city’s largest annual international public art exhibition and trade show this past weekend.

The natural random rhythms of nature and intense personal energy redirected onto canvas were the central expressions displayed by three Brooklyn artists who attracted much attention at the five-day 31st International New York Art Expo at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, ended yesterday.

“I am a professional actor who decided five years ago to find another way of expressing my creative energy,” said artist Washington Flowers Jr., smiling at his booth among his varied artwork, seen in all its glory on his web site. Obviously happy to be there as thousands of people passed by, the brightly smiling artist told of his work.

“It’s a way that challenges my internal and external energies and corrals them onto a blank canvass, expressing the truth of life in the flow of time,” said Flowers. “This Art Expo is a wonderful opportunity to meet so many interesting people and share my art.”

The “Aloha Spirit” of Hawaii had an impact on Brooklyn artist Jonathan Levy, bringing the garden of earthly delights alive at his “Style of Nature” booth. “I’ve been painting since I was a little boy; that’s nearly 30 years ago,” he said with a broad and pleasant smile. “But it was my five years living on Maui on the Hawaiian Islands that opened me up to nature and the art I do now.”

That life-changing experience for Levy, who earned his Fine Arts degree at The Pratt Institute, was profoundly inspirational. Levy explained at his booth and on his web site (www.styleofnature.com), that people usually are engrossed in their day-to-day lives with a focus on “things, possessions and routine responsibilities.” That is the way of the world; but something is missing, he said, that can both help humans and planet Earth.

“Our collective focus on ‘things’ has contributed to a philosophy that is progressively destroying our planet,” Levy writes on his web site. At the expo, he said of his time living on Maui that it is “a beautiful place where I experienced a revival of my natural senses. That drove me forward to create artworks fostering an appreciation of the natural world’s patterns of design and its random movements.”

What the Heck?

Literally drumming up attention was Brooklyn’s own popular pop artist Ed Heck at his spacious “The World is Going to Heck Again” display and performance space at the expo. Four times during the weekend, legendary rock drummer Carmine Appice, who started out with the Vanilla Fudge rock group 40 years ago, performed on his drums. He and Heck were signing posters of their joint new work, “Drum City.”

Fans queued up after the performances to chat, as Heck and his son sat at a table. Heck, who works out of the Morgan Fine Arts Building in Greenpoint, is noted for his weird, quirky and whimsical, colorful doodle-like paintings of flying saucers, dogs, birds, crayolas and everyday objects. “It’s kind of oddball art with brilliant color and bright fun in the mix,” said Heck to a fan.

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From Stephen Sawyer, Juror:

"As a fellow artist the notion of judging something as beautiful and subjective as original art is daunting.  The selections for Prizma Virtual Gallery's Best of Show, First, Second and Honorable Mention are clearly as uniquely subjective as is each entry.  I found real accomplishment and skill in all of the entries and am therefore hoping each artist will continue pursuing excellence in their chosen medium(s) and unique visions of the world whether they won an award or not."

"Humming River 3"
  29 x 23 Acrylic on Canvas
  Jonathan Levy  

Juror's Commentary:

Levy's creation is unfair of comparison but, at first, I could only think of "beyond contemporary" as if this was a new Van Gogh.  While the work may have been done meticulously, as I view this painting, the motion and interrelationship of color and object seem to explode through what was once a normal lens.  

It is very refreshing to see the illusion of reality done in this way.  At first glance it looked like a Photoshop "smudge" technique.  As I inspected it further I was really pleased to see the effort taken to manipulate the paint.  There is an immediacy of this painting's motion which does not seem frozen in time and if that can be duplicated in another painting there is a talent here that I and many more people would like to see more of.

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JONATHAN LEVY" by Michael Corbin

Jonathan Levy is a young, New York City bred artist who I met while visiting "The Artists Fair" at Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2008. I was struck by his style, which he calls "Style of Nature." He's a very talented artist and I asked him if he would consent to an interview. Starting off, I asked him about how he was surviving as an artist in this current economy. He sent me a really great, but long email that not only addressed that question, but several others. So, with his permission, I broke up his answer into the conversation that you see below. In short, I got creative, but this remains true to his voice. I think you'll enjoy his insight and his website at www.styleofnature.com but first, here's our chat:

MICHAEL: First of all Jonathan, thanks for talking with me. How did you start out as an artist?

JONATHAN: Six years ago when I finished up with school (Pratt Institute), I realized I needed to figure out two very important things. First, I needed to find a painting style that I loved to do and needed to figure out what to do with it once I found it. I was on the first plane to Hawaii in search of these answers. My search led me to Maui because I had heard it was one of the art capitals and I was in search of some serious inspiration.

MICHAEL: Hawaii sounds like a fantastic destination. What did you do when you got there?

JONATHAN: (Well,) that five-year hiatus proved to pay off. I landed on my feet, running as fast as I could. I applied to every gallery on the island for any type of work I could find. It was important for me to learn the business end of the "Art World" which I was willing to do anyway. After sending out nearly 80 resumes and receiving no response, I finally got an interview with a contemporary art gallery for a sales position. During the interview, I was told the only reason I got it was because I accidentally applied on four different occasions in a two-week span. Luckily, that was viewed as persistence and I guess they appreciated the effort.

MICHAEL: It sounds like you hit the ground running. What did you do?

JONATHAN: In five years time, I worked in three different galleries whose work ranged from $50 local Hawaiian style paintings to $500,000 original Chagall paintings. I worked in a wide range of positions such as (mainly) sales, administration, marketing, restoration, framing, crating and shipping. This experience taught me one very important thing. The business end and the art end of the art business are about as different as opposites can be. Unfortunately, I found it is just as important for an artist to be a salesperson as it is to be an artist. Two perfect examples of 20th century masters are Picasso and Warhol. They were adored personalities who everyone has a personal story about. These two gentlemen were more than just charming and charismatic characters. They were salesmen!

MICHAEL: You were all over the place. What are some of the more important lessons that you've learned?

JONATHAN: Primarily, I worked in art sales. I consider this to be more valuable to my career than my formal art education. I compare it to the epiphany I had when I was 4 years old and I first colored within the lines of my "Tom and Jerry" coloring book. It was made very clear that once you romanticized the artist, the buyer’s interest would increase substantially. I witnessed firsthand on many occasions that people who had a mere interest in a work could be transformed into enthusiastic art lovers in less than half an hour. Unfortunately, art does not sell art, people do! Another piece of evidence is "actor art". I'm not going to mention any names, but there are a few actors out there who have decided to switch to the fine arts. I'm no critic, but much of these works look like ragged canvases pulled from the back of the racks of a high school art class. Yet, they fetch up around six-digit prices. Why is this? People, more or less, want to own a piece of the artist. Who wouldn't want to brag that the original painting above their fireplace "was made by Moses"?

MICHAEL: Basically, what I hear you saying is that ART IS WORK. It seems as if the real work comes with sales and promotion. During work, did you meet many collectors?

JONATHAN: While on the gallery floor, I also met many collectors, dealers and art enthusiasts from around the world. They would start as clients, become friends and end up as contacts. This is why galleries value keeping old collectors more than making new ones. If you treat a collector right, they will be back for more. This concept is magnified ten times when the collector is dealing directly with the artist. People love to know the artists of the works on their walls and appreciate the occasional email or mailing of a "new release". People are a lot more willing to give their money to someone they like opposed to someone they don't. I know that as an artist, it is much easier to crawl within yourself than it is to poke your head out of the ground to see what’s going on. That mentality could be the difference between painting for a living and getting (another) job.

MICHAEL: Most of the art that I own comes from artists with whom I've had direct contact. I will never buy art from a gallery without first talking with the artist. It's simply the most soulful and gratifying part of collecting for me. I've always felt that contact with the artist is more important than acquiring the work itself.

JONATHAN: Another factor is that art needs to be seen in real life with real eyes! In my work, photos can never do the actual pieces justice. My paintings were not selling until I began to bring them to the people. A small postcard or digital image can never contain the energy or magnitude of any work of art. Unless the buyer is familiar with your style and quality of work, it is extremely difficult to purchase something you have never seen in person. People assume it is like waiting in line at a fast food restaurant. You never get the same burger you see pictured in the window.

MICHAEL: I also think that art needs to be affordable. While “affordable” varies from person to person, I think that nothing intimidates everyday people more than seeing art that is priced WAY out of their reach. Obviously, no one should try to take advantage of struggling artists, but wouldn't their art sell better if it were more accessible?

JONATHAN: Art needs to be priced to sell. I know that with many artists, they spend so much time making something that they have difficulty parting with it. This is clearly reflected in the price of the artwork. It is a wonderful thing for an artist to form relationships with their art, but not if they become unwilling to let it go. You may be able to find works of art auctioning off for close to a half-billion dollars, but that doesn't mean all art is worth that money. Sadly but true, you might have to give away your first few pieces until some sort of demand is created. I always thought it would be an interesting idea to send my 20 best pieces to the 20 richest people in the world as a gift. If one of them takes a liking to my work, it could make the whole shebang worthwhile. So, along with these concepts, the support of my family and friends, I have been able to make a living as an artist in this art unfriendly economy. But to me, the support from those whose opinions I value far outweighs all the rest. This extremely good fortune of having people in my life who I both love and respect has fueled my efforts and turned a seemingly impossible mission into short, simple steps.

MICHAEL: Fantastic! Thanks for chatting Jonathan.

You can see Jonathan’s work in person at International ArtExpo New York at the Jacob Javits Center, booth 532 from February 26th to March 2nd or check out his website, www.styleofnature.com