Jennifer Levonian and Pearl Blauvelt
July 26–August 30, 2013

Adams and Ollman presents an exhibition of works by Jennifer Levonian and Pearl Blauvelt, on view from July 26–August 30, 2013. Levonian’s animations and related sculptures will be exhibited alongside a selection of pencil drawings on paper by Blauvelt. Both artists distill everyday life in ordinary and surprising ways.   

Jennifer Levonian crafts compelling narratives around the mundane and often overlooked moments of contemporary life. Painstakingly crafted from hundreds of individual watercolors, her stop-motion animations often feature a protagonist trying to break free from social rituals and cliches. Two animations, Take Your Picture With A Puma, and The Oven Sky, will be included in the exhibition. The former features a tourist traveling in Mexico who makes an unexpected connection, while the latter is set in a quickly gentrifying neighborhood where newcomers pressure a longtime resident to convert her yard filled with garish lawn ornaments into a dog park. Together with these works will be several of Blauvelt’s graphite and colored pencil drawings dating from the 1930s through the 1950s. The objects of everyday life–dresses, pants, rugs, furniture–are poetically rendered on notebook paper, envelopes, and paper bags. Taken together, these two artists’ works catalog common objects and events, offering a glimpse into the lives of others and providing provocative insights into social mores and material culture. 

Jennifer Levonian was born in 1977 and lives and works in Philadelphia. Her work has been exhibited at venues including Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibits; National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Sarah Lawrence College, New York; Exit Art, New York; the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; and Sante Fe Art Institute, New Mexico. Levonian has been a resident at Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and the Millay Colony for the Arts. She received her BA from The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, and her MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence. In 2009, she was awarded the Pew Fellowship in the Arts. 

Little is known about Pearl Blauvelt except that she was of Dutch descent and from a family deeply rooted in religion. Born in 1893, she lived reclusively in a small house in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The house remained empty from 1950 until 2000, when two artists purchased it and discovered a box filled with more than 400 of Blauvelt's drawings. Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, NY; The John Michael Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan, WI; and The Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro, NC.

Jennifer Levonian
Study (Louisa May Alcott’s Diary), 2013
watercolor, gouache and acrylic on carved foam
8 1/2 x 6 x 3 1/2 inches
JLev203


Jennifer Levonian
Blue Eyes (The Castle), 2013
watercolor, gouache and acrylic on carved foam
6 x 4 x 3 inches
JLev204


Jennifer Levonian
Red Pizza Squirrel, 2013
watercolor, gouache and acrylic on carved foam
6 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches
JLev209



Jennifer Levonian
Cactus, 2013
watercolor and gouache on paper
22 1/4 x 30 inches
JLev200


Jennifer Levonian
Boyhood View, 2013
watercolor on paper
22 1/4 x 30 inches
JLev201


Pearl Blauvelt
Clothing Department (all shoes), c. 1940
graphite on lined note paper
9 x 5 3/4 inches
PB217


Pearl Blauvelt
Mans Suit, Cap and Strawhat, c. 1940
graphite on lined note paper
9 x 5 3/4 inches
PB218


Pearl Blauvelt
Bed, Dresser, Chest of Drawers, c. 1940
graphite and colored pencil on cardboard
8 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches
PB189


Pearl Blauvelt
Our Rug (image of jumping dog), c. 1940
graphite and colored pencil on lined note paper
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches
PB214