Evan Levy
Artist Statement
Evan Levy's cold rolled steel sculptures appeal to our tactile as well as poetic sensibilities. His work is strong, tense and assertive while at the same time, lyrical and sublime. Levy's eye gripping sculptures confront the viewer with their strength, but leave us feeling ambiguous in that they appear to be on the verge of springing apart under the stress employed by the artist. These are precarious works which leave the viewer to doubt their weightiness. They appear to have a life all of their own. Levy's ability to achieve this dichotomy with his material is astounding.
Evan Levy's poetry is an amalgamation of the influences processed and transformed by the artist. First of all, Levy is a nationalist and not an-insincere one at that. Apart from his affirmed beliefs about his country and its people's abilities, Levy draws a great deal of inspiration from the northern landscape. He states that, "As a nationalist, Canadian content isn't a choice, it is inevitable that 'Canadian' images are the most powerful for me...Canada is a country of wind and water - these are images of the north" For a city-weaned fellow, Levy captures these images extremely well, albeit with romantic apperception.
A reaction to the many associations made by those representing the 'art-world'. Levy attempts to render his work distinctive or devoid of art-historical reference-points. A purist in his approach to art-making, he reduces his sculpture to an elemental form; a derivation from a complex image to a near-skeletal remnant. Linda Genereux commented on Levy's ability to remove himself from art-historical associations while upholding the ability to provoke a variety of appropriations and interpretations by stating that, "Evan walks on both sides of the fence, disenfranchising the power of formalist abstraction while embracing the ability to proliferate a multiplicity of suggestions rather than one specific meaning." While Levy draws influence from externals, he states that his work is also prompted by strong internal forces: "images come in flashes, but capturing them requires effort and pondering - a subconscious process."
Levy's work has also been interpreted as the "symbolic representation of an ideal condition, perhaps even of perfection. In response to this reference made by Toronto Star art critic, Christopher Hume, Levy suggests that, "since the original image, or the inspiration of some natural form was in a sense perfect, the actual sculpture can only be a symbol of this original form."
Levy uses both organic and inorganic subject-matter in his sculptural work. He captures physical space. The artist masterfully winds up manipulating the physical forces of nature, in a seeming effort to try and define these forces. While this results in a fundamental transgression of original form to manmade form, it becomes evident that Levy admires the perfection in nature and attempts to recapture it.
Above it all, Levy remains fully aware of the power of his own objects. His criticism of the art-world lies in their tendency to get lost in art-historical references and comparisons rather than celebrating the pure creation and endurance of the solid objects.
Estee H. Barica
All quotes derived from interview with artist.
EDUCATION
1970-1974 Ontario College of Art & Design, Toronto, Ontario.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2011 Contemporary Arts Gallery, Montreal, Quebec
2009 St. Lawrence Centre For The Performing Arts, Toronto, Ontario
2005 Moore Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
2003 Moore Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
1992 Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
1992 Mississauga Civic Centre, Mississauga, Ontario.
1991 Lake Galleries, Toronto, Ontario.
1990 Lake Galleries, Toronto, Ontario.
1988 Weller - Potovsky Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
1987 Weller - Potovsky Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
1986 Weller - Potovsky Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2012 Contemporary Arts Gallery, Montreal, Quebec
2012 Gallery Moos, Toronto, Ontario
2011 Contemporary Arts Gallery, Montreal, Quebec
2011 Gallery Moos, Toronto, Ontario
2010 Contemporary Arts Gallery, Montreal, Quebec
2010 Gallery Moos, Toronto, Ontario
2009 Gallery Moos, Toronto, Ontario
2008 Gallery Moos, Toronto, Ontario
2007 Gallery Moos, Toronto, Ontario
2006 Toronto International Art Exposition
2006 Han Art Gallery, Montreal, Quebec
2006 Gallery Moos, Toronto, Ontario
2005 Moore Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
2005 Han Art Gallery, Montreal, Quebec
2005 Moore Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
2005 Gallery Moos, Toronto, Ontario
2004 Gallery Moos, Toronto, Ontario.
2004 Moore Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
2003 Moore Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
2003 Gallery Moos, Toronto, Ontario.
2003 Moore Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
2002 Gallery Moos, Toronto, Ontario.
2001 Gallery Moos, Toronto, Ontario.
1993 Chicago international Art Expostion, Chicago, Illinois.
1992 Chicago international Art Expostion, Chicago, Illinois.
1992 Fetish Show, Lake Galleries, Toronto, Ontario.
1990 Art vs. GST Mural Project, Lake Galleries, Toronto, Ontario.
1989 Triangle Exhibition, Pine Plains, New York, New York.
1985 Arisi Group Show, Toronto, Ontario.
1985 Art Bar, Toronto, Ontario.
1984 Weller Gallery, Toronto, Ontario. 1985
1984 Morrison Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
MEDIA
A&E Biography Channel Interview
IN The Mind Of / Evan Levy
SELECTED PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Toronto, Ontario
Montreal, Quebec
Victoria, British Columbia
Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
New York, New York
San Francisco, California
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
PUBLIC INSTALLATIONS
Baycrest Geriatric Hospital, Toronto
Moos Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Note: an asterisk (*) following an entry indicates an exhibition catalogue or brochure.
Vie Des Arts Magazine, Summer 2011, Montreal
Katherine Moore, Active Magazine, 2012
Hume, Christopher. Canadian Art Magazine, Winter 2005, Volume 22 #4
Goddard, Peter. Toronto Star, July 2003, "Inspiration in Cold Rolled Steel"
Genereux, Linda. essay "Cold Rolled: New Sculpture by Evan Levy", Exhibition Catalogue for LakeGalleries, 1990
Genereux, Linda. Eye Magazine, November 7, 1991
Hume, Christopher. "Exhibition Review", Toronto Star, November 2, 1990
Hume, Christopher. "Heavy Metal", Toronto Star, September 16, 1988
Hume, Christopher. "Imposing Exhibition", Toronto Star, 1987
Lypchuck, Donna. "Of Matter and Motion", C Magazine, Fall Issue, 1987
Mays, John Bentley. Globe and Mail, September 10, 1986
Richler, Daniel. Avenue Magazine, March, 1985
Templeman, Peter. "Evan Levy: Cold Rolled", Workseen, No. 7, December 1990- January 1991
Wilkin, Karen. Partisan Review, New York, Winter, 1990
Wonnacott, Mark. "Sculpture Comes Down to Earth", Avenue Magazine, May, 1985
Jennifer Caven, CBC AFTER DARK September 1990 ---- Interview