By Ann Williams
Bonnie Levinson is a multi-disciplinary artist, weaving her creative magic across painting, collage, mixed media, and multi-image photography. With a career spanning over four decades, Levinson has recently been recognized as the Artist of the Year: Painting by the Boca Raton Innovation Center (BRIC), marking a significant milestone in her artistic journey.
Levinson’s artistic passion finds expression in the seamless blend of place and the unknown, creating an atmospheric realm that invites viewers to embark on a visual journey. The core of her creative process lies in the transmutation of the subconscious into beauty, a delicate dance that embraces resistance. Her work is not just a visual spectacle; it’s a portal, a meditative space where years of visual experience in the arts converge.
The balance between control and accident is a hallmark of Levinson’s creations. This delicate equilibrium is evident in her award-winning pieces showcased at the BRIC and found in private collections across locations like Manhattan, East Hampton, the San Francisco Bay Area, Malibu, Los Angeles, Aspen, Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Lake Worth, Asheville, NC, Nashville, West Orange, Ocean City, Ft Lee, NJ, and even on the Yacht Serena in Newport Harbor.
Levinson’s recent solo exhibition at the Roxbury Abbey in the Catskills added another layer to her illustrious career. The exhibition, titled Metanoia, not only showcased 49 pieces but also revealed Levinson’s conscious pursuit of otherworldliness. Set against the backdrop of a former Abbey consecrated in 1925, the environment enhanced the transcendental experience. Towering stained glass windows played host to Levinson’s paintings, creating a visual symphony where color and light interplayed with her creations. Metanoia, meaning a change of mind leading to a change of heart, perfectly encapsulates Levinson’s journey, particularly through nature, and her spiritual transformation through the act of art-making.
The curator of the exhibition, Kevin Moore, beautifully encapsulates Levinson’s work: “Bonnie Levinson’s work operates at the intersection of physical sensation and individual subjectivity. Mixing painting, photography, and collage to achieve a distinct form of visual abstraction, the work filters impressions of specific natural environments through searching emotional states, registering a range of values from buoyant optimism to turbulent resolve.”
One of Levinson’s standout pieces, “Keys to Light,” measuring 72” x 60”, is a testament to her adaptability and responsiveness to her changing environment. Having recently relocated to Florida from the West Coast, Levinson’s palette, forms, and perspective underwent a significant transformation. “Keys to Light” captures her impressions and imaginings of Key West before actually setting foot on its shores. The piece reflects not just the external changes in environment but also the internal shifts in perception and artistic expression.
In a conversation about her work, Levinson shares, “Recently moving to Florida from the West Coast has been a major change — my palette, forms and point of view have transformed significantly. The influence of the changing environment, the colors, light, smells can be experienced in my work.”
As Levinson continues to leave her artistic imprint across diverse mediums and locations, her work stands as a testament to the transformative power of art. It’s not merely about what meets the eye but the emotions it evokes, the stories it tells, and the change of heart it inspires. Bonnie Levinson’s art is a journey, an exploration, and an invitation to witness the intersection of the known and the unknown, the tangible and the ethereal.
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