TYLER LEVITETZ
Dubbed “the real Willy Wonka,” for his wild work with chocolate, Levitetz' work is as whimsical and oddly threatening as the moniker suggests.
Bio
Tyler Levitetz (b. 1989, Delray Beach, FL) is a visual artist, chocolatier, and self-described mad man.While he experiments in a wide variety of mediums, his main output is made up of metal sculptures and paintings. Levitetz's sculptural practice consists of hand painted welded recycled sheet metal.
Inspired by Keith Haring’s two dimensional metal sculptures made an impact on the artist's work, and Yayoi Kusama’s textured statues, Levitetz's characters are at once playful and vaguely threatening. His affinity for Jean Dubuffet’s cartoon-like work and Richard Prince’s ability to confound. He also draws from the expressive work of Alberto Giacometti, especially in Levitetz’s earliest pieces.
Equilibrium, 2022
Welded Steel, Acrylic and Oil Paint
Levitzetz's characters draw directly from cartoons and children's books; pushing these images towards hyper-expression and into a kind of otherworld populated by child-like monsters.Tyler's sculpture series “Boiz n Gurlz” was some of the artists warly efforts to actualize this world in 3D. Partially formed and yet complete, the characters maintain a flatness reminiscent of a pop-up children’s book.
