Leviticus - Part 22: Leviticus Explained

In his own words:

"Leviticus is a world famous artist producing superior quality oil paintings, public street art, philosophy books, builds "experiential" art venues, creates "experiential" orchestras and performs in "freestyle" concerts.

Leviticus produces hundreds of public street art pieces in New York City intended for public consumption and critique. This work is funded by the sale of his oil paintings.

Leviticus is changing the modern paradigms of music making by expanding the formal band structure, making it a more freeform experience, an all inclusive multi medium orchestra, utilizing all forms of human expression to harness explosive group creativity, while eliminating the audience dynamic completely.

Leviticus creates his own venues to produce his orchestras. The venue changes as the orchestra evolves and creates itself. The orchestra turns the venue into a living sculpture. The venue is than made available to the public to be used by promoters, event planners, and various groups that need superior space to house their agendas.

In 2004 Leviticus opened the Glass House Gallery in New York City. Leviticus closed it down in 2006 after recording 40 Glasshouse Orchestra albums. These recorded videos can be seen on Glasshouse Orchestra YOU TUBE."

I found this on Broadway, hanging from a traffic light post.

Leviticus - Part 21: Global President 2008

Leviticus throws his hat in the ring for the Global Presidency. The bottom was torn off before I found this poster but his message to the people includes the words "drowning", "dead + forgotten" and "nightmare."

Leviticus - Part 20: Crucified

A promo for one of Leviticus' paintings. Found on St. Mark's Place.

Leviticus - Part 19: Recent Studio Paintings

A month ago, Leviticus posted flyers looking for an art studio space and he already has three painting finished. I'll guess that "Revenge", "Sacrifice" and "Resurrection" are the titles.

The flyer doesn't mention a gallery and the paintings are only up from 5 - 7PM. Perhaps Leviticus has something more guerrilla planned.

Leviticus - Part 17

It looks like Leviticus is looking for space to create more substantial work. But if you're going to put your picture on the flyer, pick one where you don't look like a wanted terrorist.

Leviticus - Part 16: Glasshouse Orchestra

The marketing blitz for the Glasshouse Orchestra continues.

Leviticus - Part 15: The Videos

Found on Broadway, below 14th Street.

These are promotions for a series of videos on YouTube by the Glasshouse Orchestra, a Freestyle Family project produced by Leviticus. But "produced" overstates the videos which are as raw as anything else in the Leviticus output.

Found in Chelsea, in the gallery district.

Leviticus - Part 14: The Artist At Work

Last Friday evening, the family and I needed to get out of the apartment so we went to the Starbucks at 2nd Avenue and 9th Street, not our usual location. While I was snagging a table, I noticed that, on the table next to us, there were what looked like Leviticus postings, mid-creation. A minute later, the face that I had seen on a few postings returned to the table. He had a large stack of typing paper, the words already written on them in Sharpie, and was going through a fashion magazine, cutting out pictures and taping them below the text.

I went out the next day, looking for one of his creations but couldn't find any. From what I saw, I think they were going to look like this:

Artist's interpretation.

Leviticus - Part 13

More Leviticus postings from around Union Square. He did a drawing like this before on a bus shelter, including the coffee mug motif.

This is a page out of a textbook. Now I'm noticing that not only does Leviticus usually draw on scrap paper, all of his art supplies can be stolen from a Walgreens.

Leviticus - Part 12

Leviticus continues in his campaign to write his name and the Freestyle Family logo on every piece of paper he comes across. Found these near Union Square.

This is a page of Hello Goodbye from a Beatles song book. I'm not looking for any significance in the choice of artist or song. I think that if he had Twenty % Tippers: Greatest Hits that's what he would have used.

Beers For Barcelona Video

This was made at Animoto.com.

Leviticus - Part 11

After all these months of publicity, here's my chance to see Leviticus live! What can I expect? Music? Poetry? Self-immolation?
Meanwhile, the Freestyle Family was busy taping up these mini Bible pages around the East Village, challenging our ideas about biblical proportions.

Leviticus - Part 10

Another mass promotion from Leviticus. These were taped up all over the Union Square area.

Union Square has become the Times Square for NYC residents. It's got everything that Times Square has, like theaters, big box retailers, street performers, crowds and a major subway hub, but without the tourists. Add a park and some political unrest and voila!

RAB1501

The mystery of who wheatpasted the illustration of the Dakota in Washington Square Park is solved. While on 5th Avenue on the Upper East Side, I found a few more images from the same artist. This one includes the artist's handle, RAB1501.

He has a Myspace page where you can read all about his work. In one of the pictures on his page I noticed that he had a show with our usual suspect Leviticus and I think I recognized the Freestyle family logo too.

To my eye his drawings look like spot illustrations, the kind you find in the Black Book.

Leviticus - Part 9

Another from the crayon series found near Union Square.

I've also been noticing post-it notes with the Freestyle Family double F taped up around downtown.

Leviticus - Part 8

Two pieces by Leviticus found on Park Avenue South just north of Union Square. The uniting theme is the use of crayons.

The first one I found is a portrait on a page torn from a sketchbook.

The second is a page from a coloring book of Bible stories. The story concerns Joseph bringing his family back to Egypt.

The skull superimposed over Joseph's face and genital -like shapes over the bodies of both figures suggest a sex-death motif while the riot of color is an allusion to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Leviticus - Part 7

Found on 23rd Street, a few doors down from the Home Depot. The poem reads,

THROUGH THE MISTY CHAOS A
SHATTERED STRUCTURE SURVIVING
BOUNCING BONES BLEEDING INSIDE.

Leviticus - Part 6

Found this one taped to a bus shelter at 23rd and 8th Ave. Leviticus shares his name with the book of the Bible often cited as the God's condemnation of homosexuality. I think what's happening over the mountains is what the Bible is warning against. The scriptures say nothing against enjoying a hot mug of coffee, though.

Leviticus - Part 5

While walking to Father's Day brunch on Bleecker Street, I wandered into a Leviticus extravaganza.

He had posted a gaggle of these 5.5" x 8.5" works on paper between La Guardia Place and Sixth Avenue. I found more on 3rd Street, collecting nine in total.

It looks like it took longer to post these than to create them.

Leviticus - Part 4

Another one-of-a-kind assemblage of fabric and xerox. I found this at 23rd Street & 8th Avenue.

The text reads, "We are all in this ocean of consciousness enduring Every crashing wave of emotion alone in the sea of solitude searching for oursleves in the dark."

If the Freestyle Family decides to form an Emo band, they've already got their lyricist.