MARCH 8 – APRIL 26, 2023

Opening Reception with the Artist
Wednesday, March 8, 5:30–7:30PM

SOCO Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Refrigerate After Opening, a solo exhibition by artist Andrew Leventis. The gallery will host a public reception with the artist on Wednesday, March 8th in SOCO Annex from 5:30 – 7:30 PM.  This will be the artist’s first solo exhibition with SOCO Gallery.

In a nod to the still-life painters of the Dutch Golden Age, North Carolina-based artist Andrew Leventis considers the historical and contemporary significance of vanitas (Gabriella Maza, 2022).   In his hyper-realistic and detailed oil paintings, the ideas of permanence and fleeting realities clash. “Leventis calls our attention to what otherwise might be overlooked, forcing us to think critically about excess, opulence, feminine and masculine spaces and consumer culture.” (Jen Sudul Edwards, 2021)

In Refrigerate After Opening, the artist focuses on his refrigerator series, which started in 2020 during the global pandemic. “These refrigerator interiors evoke everything from food hoarding to food shortages, as well as the personalities, diets, and life-styes of their owners. Additionally, they allude to the 16th century Dutch ‘vanitas’ tradition, in which food, flowers, and other perishable items speak to the fleeting nature of life and the passing of time” says Leventis. 

Traditional symbols of the genre like skulls, extinguished candles, books, and musical instruments are replaced by sets of whole chickens, a pig head, a slab of butter, or everyday treats, such as a carton of heavy cream, a jar of pickles, or beer bottles. Decadent piles of objects existing purely for our own entertainment and satisfaction reflect our futile desire for hedonistic consumption in contemporary society and a primal need for self-preservation. This oeuvre casts a spotlight on our human shortcomings and fears, but does so with compassion and understanding, for others as well as the artist.

A special thank you to Sarah Derer who collaborated with Leventis on this series.

Andrew Leventis (American)

Leventis received an MFA in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths College, University of London, and an MA in Fine Art from Wimbledon College of Art, University of the Arts London. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Art in Painting from the American Academy of Art, Chicago. He has exhibited internationally at museums and galleries and most recently at Mint Museum Uptown, Charlotte, NC (2022); Venice Arsenale, Italy (2021); York Art Gallery, UK (2021); and Arts Visalia, Visalia, CA (2021). Forthcoming exhibitions include the Whitaker Museum, Rossendale, UK, Arcadia Gallery, and Novilla, Moving Poets, Berlin. Leventis lives and works in Charlotte, North Carolina.