ABOUT THE ARTIST
Artist Statement
Stories. Real and Imagined. With Pictures.
At the basis of all of my art there are stories. They combine my actual life experiences, voluntarily imagined ones, and sometimes simply my unfiltered dreams.
I have never believed that a person can and must do only one thing in life.
I have led parallel careers.
The first is pulmonary/critical care medicine. Formally trained, totally truth based, tangible, and real.
The second: making art. Totally imaginary, made up, but most self-revealing when it combines with what has been real in my life and what has escaped from my subconscious.
Although often asked, I never felt the need to prioritize or even separate these lives.
Context
Rick Levinson was born in 1943 in Salem, New Jersey. A physician, formally trained in pulmonary and critical care medicine, Levinson has used his intense exposure to the human experience to guide his art explorations. The nuanced roles of memory and consciousness have often been inspirational starting points. He has been actively making art since the early 1980s.
His notable domestic and international solo exhibitions include: Faces Behind Faces, Kaarst, Germany (1992); The Invention of Memory, Martin Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania (1995); Split Infinities, Ericson Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2000); The Shade, Monorchid Studio, Phoenix, Arizona (2003); Acts of Faith, LUXE Gallery, New York City, New York (2004); Unvisible, LUXE Gallery, New York City, New York (2004); Freed by Light, LUXE Gallery, New York City, New York (2004); The Bridge collaborative installation with poet Marc J. Straus, Lehigh University Art Galleries, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (2004); You Know Me (Tu Me Conoces), Museo Nacional de la Estampa, Mexico City, Mexico (2007); About Face, Galerie Splettstoesser, Kaarst, Germany (2008); Back Looking Forward, Yves Klein Archive, Paris, France (2012); Presence/Absence, Galerie Splettstoesser, Kaarst, Germany (2012); Acts of Faith, solo installation in collaboration with artist Wang Xin, The Armory Show, New York City, New York (2018); A Collection, Riva Yares Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona (2019); Sarah Brodsky’s Ring, Bentley Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona (2021).
Levinson has also exhibited in group shows in Arizona, New York, and around the world, most recently at de Sarthe Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona (2022).
His current project, Apostrophe, is a meticulous, vibrant body of work originating in his interest in James Joyce’s experimental novel “Finnegans Wake.”
https://www.desarthe.com/artist/levinson-rick
Biography
Born in 1943 in Salem, New York. Lives and works in Paradise Valley, Arizona
1991 Artist’s Residency, studio of Günther Uecker, Düsseldorf, Germany
1974 – 1981 Faculty, University of Pennsylvania, Medical School
1969 – 1974 Specialty Training – Pulmonology and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania, Medical School
1969 Graduated New Jersey Medical School
1965 Graduated Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Solo Exhibitions
2023 Out of Thin Air, De Sarthe Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
2021 Sarah Brodsky’s Ring, Bentley Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2019 A Collection, Riva Yares Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
2018 Acts of Faith, solo installation in collaboration with artist Wang Xin, The Armory Show, New York, New York
2012 Back Looking Forward, Yves Klein Archive, Paris, France
Presence/Absence, Galerie Splettstoesser, Kaarst, Germany
2008 En Face/About Face, Galerie Splettstoesser, Kaarst, Germany concurrent with solo exhibition by Marianne Reiners-Maaz
2007 You Know Me (Tu Me Conoces), Museo Nacional de la Estampa, Mexico City, Mexico
2004 Freed by Light, LUXE Gallery, Project Room, New York, New York
Acts of Faith, LUXE Gallery, New York, New York
Unvisible, LUXE Gallery, Project Room, New York, New York
The Bridge, Collaborative installation with poet Marc J. Straus, Lehigh University Art Galleries, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
2003 The Shade, Site Specific Installation, Monorchid Studio, Phoenix, Arizona
2001 Gocaia Gallery, Tucson, Arizona
2000 Split Infinities, Ericson Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1995 The Invention of Memory, Martin Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania
1994 Faces Behind Faces II, Staedtische Gallery, Kaarst, Germany
1992 Faces Behind Faces, Gallery 44, Kaarst, Germany
Group Exhibitions
2023 Annual Group Show, Bentley Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2014 Not For All My Little Words, Marc Straus Gallery, New York, New York curated by Tim Hawkinson
2005 Almost, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, New York
Selections From the Permanent Collection, Frank Martin Gallery, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Galleri SE, Bergen, Norway
2004 Simply Drawn, LUXE Gallery, New York
2003 Arizona Biennial, Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona
Building a Collection, Contemporary Forum Auction Installation, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
The 100 Dollar Show, Studio Lodo, Phoenix Center for Contemporary Art, Phoenix, Arizona
2002 Artists Masks, Neuberger Museum, New York City, New York
1998 Muhlenberg Masterpieces, Frank Martin Gallery, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania
1996 Drawing into Sculpture, Mandeville Gallery, Union College, Schenectady, NY
1995 Invention of Memory, Martin Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College, Allentown,
1992 Group Show, Gallery 44, Kaarst, Germany
1990 Group Show, Arizona State University Museum, Tempe, Arizona
1989 Group Show, Construct Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
Lynchmob, HBC, Berlin, Germany
PRESS & REVIEWS
How a Deadly Fire and a Rescued Ring Inspired a New Phoenix Art Exhibit 2021
“A Collection” at the Riva Yares Gallery February 2019
Scottsdale Gallery Exhibits Work of Physician, Artist
John Yau, The Bridge - A Journey Through Illness, Catalogue Essay