Jonathan LeVine

Jonathan LeVine is an American art dealer, instrumental in the proliferation of lowbrow and street art on the East Coast of the United States. About LeVine grew up in Trenton, New Jersey. As a teenager, he encountered punk rock music and the punk scene, and began producing fanzines, promoting shows, and booking bands. He attended Montclair State University, and graduated with a degree in sculpture. Beginning in 1994, and while working at Montclair State University, LeVine became an independent curator, exhibiting punk flyers, comics, graffiti, and tattoo art at punk rock venues CBGB, Webster Hall, Max Fish and Maxwell's. Prominent artists in his early exhibitions included the contemporary artist Ron English, the visual artist and musician Daniel Johnston, and the street artist Shepard Fairey. In February 2001, LeVine opened a small gallery called Tin Man Alley in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Tin Man Alley initially sold vintage toys, novelty items, and lowbrow art. LeVine moved his gallery in 2005 to Manhattan, New York City. Gallery In January 2005, LeVine opened the Jonathan LeVine Gallery to the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, at 529 West 20th Street. The gallery promoted graffiti art as fine art, holding a major group show in conjunction with São Paulo's Choque Cultural gallery, in 2007. Work by eight Brazilian street and graffiti artists was exhibited as Ruas De São Paulo. That June, LeVine rented a temporary space, in the Dumbo section of Brooklyn, for Shepard Fairey's exhibition, entitled E Pluribus Venom, and in December LeVine had an international street art show called, entitled The Streets of Europe, which featured artists from France, England, and Italy. The show included the contemporary artist Bo130, the graffiti artist Blek le Rat, the street artist D*Face, and the urban artist Invader. In 2010, he curated a large group show for the fifth anniversary of his gallery, and some of the works were also showcased on The New York Times website, with audio commentary by LeVine.