~DAVID X. LEVINE – BUSHWICK OPEN STUDIOS 2012


DAVID X. LEVINE, works out of a Tribeca studio – but had a major work – on display – in a Bushwick open studio.


it was a pretty awesome piece – esp for being a large work on paper – completely done in prismacolor pencil !!


DAVID X. LEVINE in front of his monolith of a work on paper: ‘VANINA!’
you can get a better sense of the scale here !!
it took a little over 2 months of obsessive scribbling to complete, and consumed over 70 pencils, believe it.
it’s retained all that intense detailed handling, and plus (!!) the surface has become imbued with the amassed waxy totality of the over-all pencil density, adding a layer of mystery and an ambience that’s hard to describe in words, but is powerful in person.
it’s like a monolith – an emotional wall – straight out of a sci-fi movie.
it dominates the room – like a 2 dimensional, thinking, breathing, pulsating way-way-future robot, if not life form !!
when we are all reduced to planes, the better to deep space travel. believe it !!
origami rules the space race.


detail, DAVID X. LEVINE, ‘VANINA!’.
it’s also got a weird sexuality, esp for a monolith. comprised of two over-sized artist grade pieces of paper – the center “crack” takes on a very sexual overtone. a thin shallow flutter of communication.
a conversation about pure ‘plasticity’.
a sensual code, and a ‘river running through it’ – emotional (very human) language.
data, dudes – on many levels – despite the initial ‘simplicity’ and therein lies the many layers of metaphor, and emotion. not to forget – the purely graphic & thematic – punch.


yep, this is the hand that scrubbed that surface – red !! and waxy – from the tippy tip tip – of 70+ colored pencils.


curious to see if ‘VANINA!’ was but a ‘red’ only stop in an ongoing series of monochromatic overall pieces, we were enthralled to see the hard-edge range – of David Levine’s portfolio of (very) graphic compositions.


DAVID X. LEVINE, ‘Charles Stevenson Wright’, 2009. colored pencil and collage, 68 x 52 ins.
we got to cruise, and ask questions – thanks to the intimate open studio format – and were able to access a small but nifty catalog of his work – produced by STEVEN ZEVITAS GALLERY in Boston.


DAVID X. LEVINE, ‘Charles Stevenson Wright’, 2009. colored pencil and collage, 24 x 20 ins.
it was interesting to note the flickering dialog between the purely abstract images vs. the strictly hard-edged extremely graphic imagery inclusive – compositions.


DAVID X. LEVINE, ‘Carol Mountain’, 2009. colored pencil, 64 x 53 ins.
‘Carol Mountain’ seemed to have the best – of both worlds.


detail, DAVID X. LEVINE, ‘Carol Mountain’, 2009.

to see more, check out: DAVID X. LEVINE


DAVID X. LEVINE greets his cousin, fellow artist, STACY SCIBELLI, in front of his monolithic pencil work, ‘VANINA!’
. . . ya just gotta dig the name of that piece, or what !!


STACY SCIBELLI has just returned to New York City after 7 years away. she has been teaching at Mount Ida in Boston.
NYC bred, she has an M.F.A from S.V.A. and does “interactive social sculpture” utilizing people clothed in her hand-made hand-stitched ‘sculptural’ garments that challenge notions of individual boundaries.
you can check out her work, here: STACY SCIBELLI


STACY SCIBELLI – dig that sewing needle – ink, girl !!
it’s straight after – my own heart !!


STACY SCIBELLI, ‘Utopia Parkway’, 2008. wool/digital print. screen grab off her website.


but, we’ll give David – the last (!!) word:
DAVID X. LEVINE, ‘The Kinks’, graphite on paper, 11 x 10 ins. screen grab off his website/more drawings.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH, BUSHWICK OPEN STUDIOS, BROOKLYN, N.Y. JUNE 2, 2012.