Doze Green:
The Left Hand Path

Gallery I
Solo Exhibit

Opening reception - Saturday, September 9th, 7pm-9pm

September 9, 2006 through October 7, 2006

Doze Green:
"The Left Hand Path"
Gallery I
On View September 9th - October 7th, 2006
Opening Reception Saturday October 9th, 2006 from 7 p.m - 9 p.m.

New York, NY August 2006 – Jonathan LeVine Gallery is proud to announce the opening of The Left Hand Path, a solo exhibition of new works by celebrated artist Doze Green. His exhibition of new paintings is inspired from roots in modern graffiti and based upon metaphysical and ethereal ideologies. The Left Hand Path will be on view from September 9th through October 7th with an opening reception held on Saturday, September 9th from 7pm to 9pm.

For The Left Hand Path, Doze Green translates complex metaphysical concepts through his paintings, such as the possible manipulation of energy and matter to create a timeless space. He explores meditations on matter and anti-matter, layers of consciousness, and different possibilities based on cosmology. The Left Hand Path is based upon life at the crossroads, at the junction of the seen and unseen.

Through stream-of-consciousness painting, Doze Green creates fractured imagery to convey infinite possibilities. His intention is to reveal works with an ever-changing narrative. Multi-dimensional planes and illusion of time are presented through fragmented, incomplete figures. He believes by depicting beings that are not fully materialized, these beings are not of this realm. He presents possibilities of immortality through paintings where narratives are interminable. His collection of paintings is an extension of this metaphysical concept.

Cubist influences include ascending and descending planes and repetitive, overlapping, and concentric lines in an otherwise undefined landscape. For Doze Green, this energy and motion of created forms exist in a visual meeting place of ideas. Influenced by Edo period paintings, Doze Green mixes black gesso with Sumi ink and applies “creatively chaotic, and intuitive brushstrokes,” in a calligraphy-inspired and graffiti aesthetic. Doze Green translates these primitive markings as “biological entities, a swarm of arrows coming in from infinite perspective.”
 



ABOUT THE ARTIST

Doze Green was born and raised in the upper west side of Manhattan, New York City and was one of the pioneers of the Hip-Hop culture. He first started writing graffiti in his neighborhood in 1974, and started painting subway trains in 1976. The following year he joined the Rock Steady Crew. The Rock Steady Crew were pioneers of a new style of dance known as breakdancing or B-Boying. The crew first started dancing at art exhibitions and galleries of Soho and the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
 
During this time Doze Green was also attending the High School of Art and Design, where some of the most talented and well-respected graffiti artists came from. Artists such as Lady Pink, Daze, Ernie Valdez, Seen TC5, , , Mr. Wiggles, Mare 139, and numerous others. In 1982 Doze Green showed his artwork in a well-known group show at the Fun Gallery. At this same time after appearances in major movies such as Flashdance, Style Wars, and Wildstyle, the Rock Steady Crew was launched into action and the limelight.
 
From B-boy to graffiti legend, Doze Green has gone to tagging the hallways of South Bronx projects to designing for clothing lines like Kikwear and Ecko. In the process, he's become a proponent of the avant-garde "fusionistic" art movement. Best known for his characters, Doze Green has begun to concentrate on canvases that blend wildstyle techniques with metaphysical concepts. Doze Green is also known for his live painting performances. Doze Green’s work is in many public and private collections throughout the United States, Japan, Europe, and Australia. His works have been published in BlackBook, Anthem, Juxtapoz, Tokion, and Vibe and reviewed on CNN.