Andrew Levitas
| Andrew Levitas | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 4, 1977 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Education |
Horace Mann School Dalton School |
| Alma mater | New York University |
| Occupation | Painter, sculptor, filmmaker, writer, producer, photographer, actor |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Known for | Photographic sculpting, painting |
| Home town | Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Katherine Jenkins (m. 2014) |
| Children | 1 |
Andrew Levitas (born September 4, 1977) is an American painter, sculptor, filmmaker, writer, producer, photographer, and actor.
Levitas was born in New York City. He attended Horace Mann School and then Dalton School in Manhattan. In high school, Levitas became a member of the downtown repertory company, City Kids, as well as a published writer. After graduating from The Dalton School, he attended New York University. He graduated in 2000 with a degree from the Gallatin School of NYU. He is Jewish.
In addition to a growing list of American and international gallery exhibitions, Levitas’ work has garnered attention through top auction houses, museums, and art fairs. 2012 highlights include a solo exhibition Metalwork Photograph: Sculptures at Phillips de Pury in Manhattan, as well as a ten-year retrospective Andrew Levitas: A Brief Survey 2002-2012 at New York University. 2014 highlights include the first solo exhibition ever presented at the highly anticipated Phillips, Berkeley square which included examples of Levitas’s earlier two-dimensional artwork in which he successfully fused metalwork and photography, as well as examples of the artist’s more recent works depicting crumpled sheets and three-dimensional freestanding installations, all made in his distinctive and innovative style.
In 2004 Levitas burst onto the art scene with his "Metalwork Experiment." Developed by the artist, Metalwork Photography photographic sculptures are formed by a process involving the transfer of photographs onto custom transparencies that are in turn melted onto hand detailed sheets. The result is a work that combines the imagery of a photograph with the presence of a sculpture. While these works are printed as editions, they function as unique objects since each print differs, depending on the level of hand tooling.
Levitas’ installations are each composed of multi-paneled interlocking metal sheets whose collective impact transcends their individual materiality. The works’ strength is derived from their dual draw as photographs and sculptures, existing in an alternate dimension that intrigues and engages the eye. Accordingly, the artist emphasized the duplicitous nature of his art, stating that works are about "the beauty we discard and the filth we treasure." Other works included in the exhibition are crumpled sheets of metal that resonate with John Chamberlain’s mangled installations, inspired by the action Abstract Expressionist paintings that typified the Post-War New York School. However, as opposed to Chamberlain’s incorporation of readymades, Levitas’s creation and subsequent disfiguration of his own artwork adds a performative twist to his artwork that situates it at the vanguard of contemporary art. The result is a work that combines the imagery of a photograph with the presence of a sculpture. While these works are printed as editions, they function as unique objects since each print differs, depending on the level of hand tooling.
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