Jonathan Levin

I live for creativity, music, and humor. Laughter has always been one of my best friends, but I've also had an ongoing love affair with the absurd and bizarre. From early on, all of my art was made with a still camera, darkroom or movie camera, and I hadn’t given much thought about creating anything in other media.

At first I found drawing and freehand artwork frustrating and I didn’t get much enjoyment from it. Enrolled in the Rhode Island School of Design, I started taking courses in silkscreen, intaglio, and lithography. I was encouraged to keep doing more by friends and a few brave faculty - they especially liked my nude renderings. The more I did, the more I enjoyed it, gaining confidence with experience. I remain grateful for the encouragement I received.

Most of my professional assignment work was not exactly what I would consider "art." I was looking for projects to call my own and that might express some inner reality. Studying jazz guitar was one; drawing and painting was the other. At one point I lucked into a windfall from a friend whose mother was a painter: dozens of tubes of top-quality artist oil paints. Cadmiums, titaniums, cobalts, the crème de la crème. That really gave me permission to get going.

I like to...

Ansel Adams Yosemite Spring Photography Workshop, Yosemite National Park, CA. 1973

Rhode Island School of Design BFA Photography 1974-1978

Glencoe Art Fair 1969, 1970
New Trier East High School "Nude self portraits" 1974
"Private Parts" erotic art show. Providence, RI. 1978
"Three Oh-Wow-Man Show" (Paul Marvine, Jonathan Levin, and Ron Pearl) Woods-Gerry Gallery Providence, RI. 1978
"Blues In F/Stop" Short comedy film (Paul Marvine and Jonathan Levin) premier, Chicago, IL. 1983
Bucktown Arts Festival, Chicago, IL. August 2000
Around The Coyote Arts Festival, Chicago, IL. September 2000 and September 2001
"Angels and Demons" group show, March 2023, Stola Contemporary Art in Chicago
“Scapes” group show, August 2023, Stola Contemporary Art in Chicago