Gillian Lefkowitz, The Goddess, oil on canvas, 54″ x 54″, 2012
Gillian Lefkowitz: Portrayals
Artist Reception: Saturday, December 8th, 5:00-8:00 PM
Exhibit on view December 8 – January 15, 2012
Gillian Lefkowitz grew up in the Venice California home of artist parents Patricia Knop and Zalman King. Being surrounded by the wild and eclectic environment they created was the perfect breeding ground to give birth to her own passion for visual arts and interior design. She attended Crossroads High School and San Francisco Art Institute where she studied painting. While there, she became enamored by photography, which segued into an unexpected career in that field. She was blessed to travel the world at an early age as a professional photographer for film and print. Gillian’s work in photography then laid the groundwork for a return to painting and her first solo show at Miauhaus Gallery, which was a rare sold-out success. The complexity of human nature is primary to Gillian as she aspires to capture her subject’s rich and layered essence in her paintings and drawings. In her words: “In my portraits, I love to tell stories through my subject’s eyes and expressions. I love to combine whimsy, humor and sadness together with unexpected color choices. Color has always played a huge part in my work. In this particular series, ‘Social Archetypes’, I chose primary fun colors in contrast to the more complex emotional inner-landscape of my subjects. It’s about the roles we take on in our society and how we play out those roles. It’s about that double edge sword that lives in us all, the light and the dark, the yin/yang of human nature. Just as my work appears simple at first glance, my painted friends are way more complicated than meets the eye.” Recently, Gillian’s eye for color and form has translated beautifully into her work in interior design where she has done multiple projects for a client list in the entertainment and arts community. She lives and works in Los Angeles with her amazing son Max who is a constant inspiration.
