Josef Levi
Josef Alan Levi (born February 17, 1938) is an American artist whose works range over a number of different styles, but which are unified by certain themes consistently present among them.
Levi began his artistic career in the 1960s and early '70s, producing highly abstract and very modernist pieces: these employing exotic materials such as light fixtures and metallic parts.
Around 1980, he made another important shift, this time toward creating highly precise, though subtly altered reproductions of pairs of female faces which were originally produced by other artists.
[5] Two of the most important themes of Josef Levi's artwork are recognized to be: the female form, especially the face; and the similarities in visual aesthetics which transcend cultures.
From 1959 to 1960, Josef took some courses of Howard McParlin Davis and Meyer Schapiro at Columbia University which initiated him into the techniques of reproducing the works of the Old Masters.
[1][4][6] By 1980, Josef Levi's art had transformed into a very specific form: a combination of reproductions of female faces which were originally depicted by other artists.
The faces which he reproduces may be derived from either portraits or from small portions of much larger works; they are taken from paintings of the Old Masters, Japanese ukiyo-e, and 20th-century art.
Artists from whom he has borrowed include: Vermeer, Rembrandt, Piero della Francesca, Botero, Matisse, Utamaro, Correggio, Da Vinci, Picasso, Chuck Close, Max Beckmann, Pisanello, Lichtenstein.
Levi, in general, carefully preserves the facial expressions of his subjects, and major facets of their appearance, e.g. what sort of clothing the women are wearing.
Through trompe-l'œil, Levi "unifies"[4] the works and enhances the contrast, comparing the periods by, for example, the deterioration of the sources which marks their temporal origins.
[1][4] Around 2000, Josef Levi began supplementing his manual work with digital techniques, abstracting his form, but maintaining the same subjects.
