Two-Way Street
Group Exhibition

Gallery II

August 4, 2010 through August 21, 2010

NEW YORK, NY (July 6, 2010) — Jonathan LeVine Gallery in association with Choque Cultural gallery is pleased to present Two-Way Street, a group exhibition featuring work by four Brazilian street artists: Alexandre Tadeu Alves (aka Chivitz), João Paulo (aka NOVE), Márcio Penha (aka Presto) and Ramon Martins, in what will be their debut exhibition in New York.

Two-Way Street is the latest installment in what has been an ongoing cross-cultural dialog between Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York and Choque Cultural in São Paulo, Brazil. Work by the four artists in this show represent the new generation of street art coming out of São Paulo today, as these artists are younger than those who have previously exhibited here in the US.

The conversation that began in 2007 with Ruas de São Paulo: A Survey of Brazilian Street Art, has continued in the years since, as Jonathan LeVine Gallery has presented solo exhibitions for Brazilian artists Stephan Doitschinoff (aka Calma), Hamilton Yokota (aka Titi Freak), and Vitche in New York, while exhibitions at Choque Cultural have included a solo exhibition of works by Tara McPherson, a two-person show of works by Gary Baseman and Josh Agle (aka Shag) as well as group shows featuring numerous artists from LeVine’s roster.

In December of 2009, Choque Cultural curated an impressive program at MASP art museum (Museu de Arte de São Paulo), with a tremendous installation of work by some of the city’s street artists within the prestigious institutional setting. Baixo Ribeiro, one of Choque’s directors said, “MASP invited us to bring our work to a larger audience. The six participating artists created an environment with a lot of visual ‘volume’ with nearly 100% of the place painted in massive doses of aerosol, acrylic and other materials.” The exhibition was a record success, receiving 135,000 visitors in a period of 10 weeks.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

• Alexandre Tadeu Alves (aka Chivitz) has been known for nearly 10 years on the streets of São Paulo for his characters, painted primarily in solid black, white and grey on background fields of bright flat colors. His paintings feature abstracted figural shapes and expressive hand gestures. His influences include pop art, animation, graffiti, and tattoo work.
   
• João Paulo (aka NOVE) is 26 years old and also known by his street alias NOVE, which means NINE in Portuguese. His works result from a complex creative process of research and experimentation with media, applying acrylic and aerosol spray paint onto walls, fabrics, and remnants of found wooden furniture. NOVE’s work explores the tension that exists between the delicate aesthetic of his figurative imagery when painted on alternative canvases with rough, streaked, and stained textures.
   
• Márcio Penha (aka Presto) has painted in the streets since 1996, developing a colorful, imaginative, narrative and character-based style. He studied at the Carlos de Campos school, home to many renowned Brazilian street artists from São Paulo including Alex Hornest (Onesto), Speto, and Os Gemeos. Presto often paints on aged, weathered wood and naturally rusted metals, creating a visual contrast with the clean line quality of his stylized, animation-inspired figures.
   
• Ramon Martins was born in Sao Paulo in 1980, and received a BFA from Guignard School of Minas Gerais. His work includes graffiti, performance, site-specific installation, sculpture, and painting on canvas. The fluid style and mixture of techniques in his paintings reveal inspiration from pop and psychedelic art, combined with the influence of African and Indigenous traditions. ??His most recent projects within the last year include an installation for Inside Out / Outside In, as one of six artists curated by Choque Cultural at MASP Contemporary Art Museum in Sao Paulo, Brazil, a large-scale mural in Rotterdam, Holland as one of several participating artists in STREET — Reflection on Urban Art — Line Colours and Forms of Brazilian Urban Art, as well as an installation at SCION space in Los Angeles, California.

ABOUT CHOQUE CULTURAL
Choque Cultural is a contemporary art gallery exhibiting pop, outsider art. Since 2004, it has become a safe harbor for artists inspired by an eclectic mix of origins including tattoo, graffiti, graphic design and illustration. The gallery is located in São Paulo, Brazil—a city known for vibrant street art, talented graffiti artists, and expressive culture. All this creative energy ignites the gallery with an ever-changing environment. Each exhibition is a creative installation and reflection of the contemporary Brazilian Street Art movement. Choque Cultural has played an important role in cultivating these emerging art forms and cutting-edge contemporary styles. Through a fresh and unconventional program, Choque Cultural enjoys a loyal following of young collectors and prominent recognition in the Brazilian Contemporary art world. For further info, please visit: www.choquecultural.com.br.

ABOUT JONATHAN LEVINE GALLERY
Jonathan LeVine Gallery exhibits a genre of work influenced by illustration, comic book art, graffiti, street art and pop culture imagery. We represent a mix of emerging and mid-career artists with an emphasis on cultivating new talent and creating an environment where artists can further develop their work. Since 2005, the first year established in New York, Jonathan LeVine Gallery has remained focused on maintaining its mission of community, and commitment to providing our artists with a nurturing arena for experimentation and discussion.

Alexandre Tadeu Alves (aka Chivitz)

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João Paulo (NOVE)

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Márcio Penha (aka Presto)

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Ramon Martins

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Opening Photos