The Parting Gift

Jonathan Levine Projects is committed to new and cutting edge art. Our roots go back to 1995 when LeVine's life-long participation in punk and underground music grew into a curatorial experiment with the visual culture that surrounded him. In 2005, he opened Jonathan LeVine Gallery in the Chelsea district of New York City and had great success nurturing the careers of many celebrated artists. In 2017, the gallery relocated to Jersey City with a newfound focus on community and collaboration. The newly named Jonathan LeVine Projects aims to create engaging programs and interesting partnerships beyond the traditional gallery space. With an eye towards honoring and connecting with the history and context of Post War art, Jonathan LeVine Projects explores the terrain of the high/low and everything in between. He was born in Australia, and now resides in Australia and The United States. He lives with his wife, his two sons, and one stinky cat. Ashley has been a professional illustrator for over ten years, and has worked for most major entertainment companies including Dreamworks SKG, Warner Bros., Random House, Marvel Comics, McFarlane Entertainment, IDW, and Konami. His illustration technique is a combination of traditional painting techniques, coupled with digital photography and graphic software. Currently Ashley divides his time between operating his entertainment company 7174 TYP LTD., creating properties for film, comics, books, and toys; and commercial projects including the Official Metal Gear Solid comic for IDW Publishing, and commissions from the advertising- and entertainment industry. NEW YORK, NY (September 19, 2012) — Jonathan LeVine Gallery is pleased to announce Machine Sabbath, a series of new paintings by Australian artist Ashley Wood, in what will be his debut solo exhibition in the United States. Ashley Wood applies an expressionist approach to erotic imagery. His female subjects and their surrounding environments are partially obscured and fragmented by extreme contrasts in light and shadow. Wood’s vigorous painting technique combines multiple layers of oil, acrylic and glazes, resulting in a painterly quality and high-gloss, drippy aesthetic. In addition to works on panel and canvas, the exhibition also features two mixed media collages consisting of photographic Polaroid images as well as two sculptures of shapely right legs wearing strappy high-heeled sandals, each adorned with paintings of nudes on the outer calf. In the artist’s words, “Machine Sabbath is an inquiry into the ambiguity of silent suburban backyards, the conversations that take place between the denizens of those private spaces and the machines that think for us.”