Levenstein’s atmospheric landscapes and domestic interiors explore the conditions under which an autonomous painting might be possible. His work sits at the intersection of avant-garde cinema and the tradition of European painting: its ambiguous temporality recalls the long, single-shot takes of Andrei Tarkovsky, while its treatment of nature draws on Caspar David Friedrich. Rendered slowly in oil on wood, linen or copper, as well as sumi ink on paper, his works are marked by discipline and restraint, with mirroring and distortion recurring as motifs. Levenstein often revisits certain images, transforming scenes of rural and domestic life so that they are balanced between representation and presentation.
Matvey Levenstein (b. 1960, Moscow, U.S.S.R.) lives and works in New York and Orient, New York.
Levenstein received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1983 and his MFA from the Yale School of Art in 1987, having previously studied at the Moscow Architectural Institute. Selected solo exhibitions include Kasmin, New York (2024, 2021, 2019); Galleria Lorcan O’Neill, Rome (2023, 2018, 2012, 2007); Larissa Goldston Gallery, New York (2009, 2005); and Jack Tilton Gallery, New York (1997, 1995). His work is held in public collections including the Denver Art Museum and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. His awards include the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Biennial Grant (2022), the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome (2003) and the Penny McCall Foundation Award (2002).