New York’s Jonathan LeVine Gallery just opened two absolutely monumental new shows: a group exhibition curated by Yasha Young entitled Brotherhood, and Australian painter Joel Rea‘s solo exhibition, Beasts of Arcadia.
Brotherhood show gets its name from a Pre-Raphaelite faction of young men started in the mid-19th century with the intention of reforming the art establishment by rejecting the then-contemporary mannerist approach. The “Brotherhood” operated under the belief that academia only corrupted an artist, whose personal responsibility it was to determine the ideas and methods they use in their work, “hoping to revert back to the abundant detail, intense colors, and complex compositions of early Renaissance art,” as written in the show’s press release. These are the core principles that Young outlines for the works of Anders Gjennestad, Andreas Englund, David Walker, DOTDOTDOT, Ernest Zacharevic, Evoca1, Icy and Sot, James Bullough, Li-Hill, M-City, Nick Walker, Onur, Shepard Fairey, Tankpetrol, and Wes21.
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Home Sweet Home by Onur
Says Young, “The truth is, not much has changed when it comes to critics and institutions accepting new ideas. We are still caught within rigid frameworks and the need to justify ‘good’ art with the presence of an art school education overshadows the strength and talent of many contemporary artists.”
Hammer and Cheese – DOTDOTDOT
Young is hopeful that this show will present an opportunity to combat the status quo and provide a breath of hope for radical change: “Change can happen by showing work amongst peers, supporting each other’s work and extending the creative exchange far beyond intellectual or geographical borders.”
The Promised Land by Joel Rea
Beasts of Arcadia, on the other hand, marks Rea’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. His hyperrealistic oil paintings will make you second guess the surreal imagined realities he takes you too. The vivid, microscopic detail in these intricate landscapes are achieved using a ultra fine brush, “sometimes as thin as just a few hairs,” according to the press release. His dynamic and meticulously painted images place “disparate things together and force them to interact and depict a narrative derived from the artist’s own individual responses to existence.” In a prep video released in anticipation of the upcoming show, Rea talks about the duality within nature as a recurring theme in his work. Its that same kind of duality he feel lies within himself, whether it be the internal forces that drive his mental behavior or just the physical experience of witnessing the natural world, “it’s that combination of the savage and the beautiful that really motivates me to make this work.”
In a review of his work, artist Jane Denison wrote, “Using the physical elements as a metaphor for human emotion and experience, Rea portrays nature as pulsating energy that is both majestic and threatening.”
The Precision of Luck by Joel Rea
Clash by Joel Rea
See Me by Joel Rea
Return To Genesis by Joel Rea
These two shows are at Jonathan LeVine Gallery through October 10th.
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