Adam Wallacavage:
Il Lume Della Piovra
and
Nouar:
The Licky Sticky Sugar Show

Project Rooms I and II

Opening reception - Saturday, June 24th, 6pm-9pm

June 24, 2006 through July 22, 2006

Adam Wallacavage:
"IL Lume Della Piovra"
Project Room I
and
Nouar:
"The Licky Sticky Sugar Show"
Project Room II

On View June 24th - July 2nd, 2006
Opening Reception Saturday June 24th, 2006 from 6 p.m - 9 p.m.

New York, NY June 2006 – Jonathan LeVine Gallery is proud to announce Il Lume Della Piovra, a special project room installation of six new octopus chandeliers by Adam Wallacavage and The Licky Sticky Sugar Show, new paintings by featured emerging artist, Nouar. The exhibitions will be on view from June 24th through July 22nd. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, June 24th from 6-9pm. A book signing event for the release of Adam Wallacavage’s collection of photography spanning the past fifteen years, Monster Size Monsters, will be held on July 22nd, from 3pm-6pm.

For Il Lume Della Piovra, Adam Wallacavage unveils his bizarre series of suspended creatures of the ocean. A master craftsman and innovator, Adam Wallacavage fuses art and alchemy to fashion his surreal sculptures into functional chandeliers. Sculpting by hand using a dense plaster called drystone, Adam Wallacavage creates elongated tentacles and detailed suction cups. After bending threaded pipe, which simultaneously disguises the wires and reinforces the sculpture, he then paints the molded plaster, coating it in a resin mixed with iridescent powders to achieve a luminescent shine.

Part of the series includes a chandelier by Adam Wallacavage created in collaboration with Los Angeles-based accessories designer, Tarina Tarantino. Known globally for her sparkling and colorful creations, Tarina Tarantino has contributed ninety pearl drops with Swarovski crystals for Adam Wallacavage’s most ornate work.

Adam Wallacavage, fascinated with elaborate interiors, is also an avid collector of interesting and unusual objects.  His experimental projects evolved with the transformation of his Victorian Philadelphia home into a fantastic dream space, complete with an aquatic-themed dining room, the original dwelling place of his unusual sea urchins. His inspirations include the book Art Forms in Nature, by Ernst Haeckel, and the Acquario Civico di Milano (Milan Aquarium). "Il Lume Della Piovra" translates literally to the lamp of the octopus, but can also be interpreted as a lamp of knowledge, or enlightened mind.

For The Licky Sticky Sugar Show, Nouar has created a tasty assortment of paintings, reminding us that we must not always deny ourselves the simple pleasures we find in dessert and confectionary treats. Inspired by food and ice cream packaging, mid 20th century design, Enoch Bolles pin-ups, and Vernon Grant cartoons, Nouar introduces a lighthearted, humorous collection tinged with a slightly sinister side.

For her New York debut, Nouar creates twenty new paintings on routered wood panel, including a series of twelve stylized cupcakes. The Licky Sticky Sugar Show is a pithy collection, the first series by the artist featuring figures interacting with her devious deserts. From a cast of lollipop characters to a tiny sweet tooth painting, or bubble gum and marshmallow encounter, Nouar incorporates elements of graphic design. Both color palette and a seamless incorporation of text and image, combine to unify her paintings.

ABOUT ADAM WALLACAVAGE
Adam Wallacavage is an acclaimed photographer and founding member the Philadelphia-based artist collective Space 1026. Known for his photographs of artists and skateboarders, Adam has long documented the skating and art collective underground, as well as shooting for Thrasher Skateboard Magazine, Transworld and recently Shepard Fairey's magazine, Swindle.

ABOUT NOUAR
Nouar graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California in 2004. She has since lent her time as a traditional background painter for television animation. Recently, she finished working on the first season of Nickelodeon's "Catscratch".  Nouar's work draws largely from early to mid-century animation, illustration, food and advertisement art. Van Bueren cartoons, the Illustrations of Enoch Bolles, Vernon Grant, as well as old cookbooks continually inspire her colorful, humorous, and sometimes dark pieces.