mikelev@gmail.com
@michael_gac_levin
My paintings aim at the mystery and the intensity of childhood. At the core of my work is a lighthearted, diaristic drawing practice guided by repetition and humor. Riding a wobbly line down into memory, I find images that speak to our predicaments in the present and the uncertainty of the future. As they feed into paintings, the drawings take on color, bringing associations to nostalgia, the nocturnal, and the fantastical. My reflective, dreamlike compositions offer views of a world in which everything is animate and purposeful. A world where anything might suddenly rise to speak, stalk or play. A sense of archaic monumentality pervades the images, but feels as soft and yielding as a pillow fort or a loaf of bread. As a father of two young children., I understand my work as a way to reimagine traditions of masculinity, authority, and patrimony. Planted among the grateful ruins of a haunting past, my paintings are dreams of what we will leave behind ourselves.
CV
Education
2015 MFA in Fine Arts, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.
2006 BA in Classics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL. (Phi Beta Kappa, 2005).
Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions
2024 Michael Gac Levin: “Rainbow Chamber” at Parts & Labor, San Antonio, TX.
2023 Michael Gac Levin: “Yellow Brick Road” at Hexum Gallery, Montpelier, VT.
2021 Michael Gac Levin: “Old Skin Horse” at Woody Gallery, Brooklyn, NY.
2016 Michael Levin and Kyle Jablonski: “Jabroni, Jabroni, Jabroni” at Torrance Shipman, Brooklyn, NY.
2015 Michael Levin: “Potential Retrospective” at Steuben Gallery, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.
2014 Michael Levin and Boris Rasin: “Hearsay Heresy” at This Red Door/Kunsthalle Galapagos, Brooklyn, NY.
2013 Michael Levin: “Jews of Today” at 109 Gallery/7 Dunham Place, Brooklyn, NY.
2012 Michael Levin: “Refrigcurator #4” at B&AB Project Space, Brooklyn, NY.
Special Projects
2018 Michael Gac Levin: “Veiled Meanings: an Artist’s Response”. The Jewish Museum.
2017 Michael Gac Levin: “Because You Watched”. Screen_, curated by Ada Potter.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 “Sins of the Fathers” at Taymour Grahne (online), curated by Nat Meade.
2023 “Speedo International Unlimited” at Parent Company, Brooklyn, NY.
2023 “Trove” at Deanna Evans Projects (online)
2023 “Feather and Form” at Zepster Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2023 “Selections: Works from Fine Arts Faculty” at President’s Office Gallery, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.
2023 “The Art of Access” at New Collectors, New York, NY.
2022 “November” at Platform via My Pet Ram (online)
2022 “Search Party” at My Pet Ram, New York, NY.
2022 “A Loop, Triangle & Trapezoid” at Bozomag, Los Angeles, CA.
2022 “Omikron Edition” at Tinimini Room, Dordrecht, NE.
2022 “FRC 12” at Flatrate Contemporary (online)
2022 “RWS Open” curated by Britt Pruiksma at Bankside Gallery, London, UK.
2022 “OyG Flatfiles 2022” at Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, NY.
2021 “The Big Show” at My Pet Ram, New York, NY.
2021 “Quiet Fire” curated by Jess Cannon and Jay Gaskill, Far x Wide (online)
2021 “To Scatter or Sow” at Beard and Weill Galleries, Wheaton College, Norton, MA.
2020 “Collar Works Flat Files” curated by Jessica Cannon, at Collar Works, Troy, NY.
2020 “Home & Artists” curated by Anna Hugo and Roxanne Yamins, at the House That Jack Built, Amagansett, NY.
2018 “Garden Level” curated by Ada Potter, at 814 Lincoln, Brooklyn, NY.
2017 “Published by the Artist” curated by Grayson Cox and Angela Conant, at IPCNY, New York, NY.
2017 “The Flat Files: Year 4” at Tiger Strikes Asteroid, New York, NY.
2017 "LABA: Drunk" at the 14th St. Y, New York, NY.
2016 “Bindle 2” curated by Sorry Archive, at Orgy Park, Brooklyn, NY (upcoming).
2015 “Signs of Life” curated by Sara Reisman, at The Boiler, Brooklyn, NY.
2015 “New Work New York” curated by Kat Griefen, at The Old Gem, Brooklyn, NY.
2015 “Summer MFA Invitational” at The Rubelle and Norman Schafler Gallery, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.
2014 “Personal Desire Propaganda 3” at Queens Museum, Queens, NY.
2013 “x/+ The Multiple Addition” at P339 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY.
2013 “Personal Desire Propaganda 2” at This Red Door/Reh Kunst, Berlin, Germany.
2012 “Personal Desire Propaganda 1” at 111 Front Street Project Space, Brooklyn, NY.
2011 “Superior Artists” at La Sala, Brooklyn, NY.
Publications
2023 Polston, Pamela. “Artist Michael Gac Levin Explores Parenthood in “Yellow Brick Road”. Seven Days Vermont
2022 Maake Magazine, artist feature
2021 ArtMaze Magazine, artist feature
2021 Robinson, Scott. “From the Well of Childhood: Michael Gac Levin at Woody Gallery”. Artcritical.com.
2020 Smith, Casey Jex. “The Drawing Stall”. Featured artist.
2017 Bergen, Kami. "POSIDRAG 002". Featured artist.
Residencies, Awards, and Honors
2024 Parts & Labor Residency, San Antonio, TX.
2016-7 LABA Fellowship, 14th St. Y, New York, NY.
2015 Vermont Studio Center Residency, Johnson, VT.
2005 Phi Beta Kappa, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL.