Biography
Over the past thirty years, Marilyn Levine (b. 1935) has dedicated her career to the hyper-realistic rendering of leather objects in clay. A master of trompe-l’oeil, she addresses every detail, from the delicate stitching on the edge of a tennis shoe to the fluid folds and seams of a jacket as it hangs on a wall peg. By effectively replicating the marks, scratches, and signs of wear that leather objects develop with use, Levine endows her work with a sense of history and humanity. Her consistent dedication to this mode of working has resulted in a substantial body of work that has stood the test of time. As movements and fashions come and go, Levine’s work remains vital and relevant. Born in Canada, Levine began her career there before moving to California in 1969 to study with Peter Voulkos. Upon receiving her M.F.A. degree in 1971 from University of California, Berkeley, she had already produced her first mature work and defined her signature style. Since that time, Levine has exhibited extensively and her work has found an important place in both the ceramics community and the art world at large. Her work can be found in public and private collections throughout the world, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia.
Awards
1953 City of Calgary Scholarship to the University of Alberta1957 Second Prize, Oil Still Life, Calgary Exhibition and Stampede
1967 Canadian Ceramics, Potters’ Club of Montreal, Prize for Stoneware
1968 Canadian Guild of Crafts Exhibition, Canadian National Exhibition,
Honorable Mention
1968 Canada Council Short Term Grant,
1969 Canada Council Arts Bursary
1969 Canadian Ceramics, Louise and Adolph Schwenk Memorial Prize for Sculpture
1969 XXVII Concorso Internazionale della Ceramica d’Arte, Medaglia d’Oro
1970 First prize, University Art Museum Opening Student Exhibition, Worth Ryder Art Gallery, Berkeley
1970 Canada Council Short Term Grant
1971 Designer Craftsman ’71, Award for Ceramics, Richmond Art Center,
1971 Canadian Ceramics, Honorable Mention
1972 Canada Council Short Term Grant
1973 International Academy of Ceramics, Medal
1973 Canada Council Arts Grant
1974 Canada Council Travel Grant
1975 Associates of Brand Library Art Center Purchase Award, Ceramic Conjunction
1975 David P. Gardner Faculty Research Grant, University of Utah
1976 National Endowment for the Arts, Visual Artists Fellowship Grant
1977 Canada Council Senior Arts Grant Award
1978 Canada Council Travel Grant
1978 National Endowment for the Arts, Master Craftsmen Apprenticeship Grant
Education
1971 Master of Fine Arts, Sculpture, University of California, Berkeley, California1970 Master of Arts, University of California, Berkeley, California
1961-69 University of Regina, School of Art, Regina, Canada (Intermittent)
1959 Master of Science, Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
1957 Bachelor of Science, Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Museum Collections
Ackland Memorial Art Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel HillArt Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Canada
Berkeley Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley
Burlington Cultural Center, Burlington, Canada
The Canada Council, Art Bank
Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo, Canada
Canadian Government Exhibition Commission
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
Canton Art Museum, Canton, Ohio
Central Iowa Arts Association, Marshalltown, Iowa
Confederation Art Gallery and Museum, Charlottetown, North Carolina
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware
Department of External Affairs, Government of Canada
Department of Public Works, Government of Canada
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York
Fine Arts Museum of the South, Mobile, Alabama
Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, Michigan
Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Canada
Henry Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle
Ichon World Ceramic Center, Ichon, Korea
International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza, Italy
Israel Museum, Jerusalem
John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Kenderdine Art Gallery, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, California
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan
Marer Collection of Contemporary Ceramics, Scripps College, Claremont, California
Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Charlotte, North Carolina
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada
Musée National Adrien Dubouche de Limoges, Limoges, France
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois
Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Shigaraki, Japan
Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
Nelson Gallery, University of California, Davis
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan
Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Utah State University, Logan
Oakland Museum, Oakland, California
Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
Red Deer College, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Saskatchewan Arts Board, Regina
Sheridan College School of Design, Toronto, Canada
Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona
University Art Collections, Arizona State University, Tempe
University Art Museum, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond
William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Fine Art, Kansas City, Missouri
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Canada
Woodbury Gallery, Utah Valley State College, Orem, Utah
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2004 Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica1998 MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina. Retrospective. Catalogue
1996 Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia.
1991 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York
1990 Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco
1986 Fine Arts Center, Lubbock, Texas
1985 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York
Elaine Horwitch Galleries, Santa Fe, New Mexico
UOP Gallery, University of the Pacific, Stockton, California
O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York
1983 Fuller Goldeen Gallery, San Francisco
Asher/Faure Gallery, Los Angeles
1981 Galerie Alain Blondel, Paris
O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. Survey Exhibition. Catalogue
1980 Hansen Fuller Goldeen Gallery, San Francisco
1979 Davis Fine Arts Gallery, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho
Exhibit A, Chicago
Kimball Art Center, Park City, Utah
O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York
1976 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York
University Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
1975 Hansen Fuller Gallery, San Francisco
Peale House Galleries, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia
1974 Morgan Gallery, Shawnee Mission, Kansas
O.K. Harris Gallery, New York. Catalogue
Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Retrospective. Catalogue
1973 Bernard Danenberg Galleries, New York
1971 University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Hansen Fuller Gallery, San Francisco
University Art Museum, Berkeley, California
Northwest Handcraft House, North Vancouver
1970 Canadian Guild of Potters, Toronto
1969 Art Gallery, Regina Public Library, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
Moose Jaw Art Museum, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada
1968 Art Gallery, Regina Public Library, Regina, Saskatchewan
1967 University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Art Gallery, Regina Public Library, Regina, Saskatchewan
1966 The Craftsman, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada