Michael LeVell
"Untitled (143)", 2002
Graphite and colored pencil on paper
9 x 12 inches (22.9 x 30.5 cm)
Courtesy of the Artist and Tierra del Sol Gallery

Selected by KAWS

Michael LeVell was born in 1964 in Los Angeles, CA. He is one of eight founding artists who launched the Tierra del Sol Foundation’s studio arts program in 1989. LeVell is known for his intricate ceramics and tactile, velvety drawings of landscapes and architectural structures in saturated layers of colored pencil or acrylic paint. While legally blind, LeVell is a connoisseur of Architectural Digest, using the magazine’s stunning imagery to inform his works before narrowing our gaze to its most salient lines and forms. LeVell renders his subjects in near-perfect perspective, moving easily between works on paper and sculpture. While LeVell’s two-dimensional works appear soft and fluid, the artist’s ceramic practice recalls Modern brutalist works, offering a multitude of perspectives and angles simultaneously. In similarity to the works of other visually impaired artists, LeVell presents an intuitive spatial awareness that offers the viewer a glimpse into an abstracted articulation of the world around us. Michael LeVell has extensively exhibited across the U.S. In 2018, White Columns Gallery in New York presented a solo exhibition of LeVell’s works. He’s been written about in the Los Angeles Times, Architectural Digest, and NY Magazine, gaining critical acclaim and praise from Jerry Saltz.