Grant Levy-Lucero

White Columns is pleased to announce Pedigree, the Los Angeles-based artist Grant Levy-Lucero’s first solo exhibition in New York.

The exhibition comprises fifteen of Levy-Lucero’s signature ceramic vessels: self-consciously hand-built, oversized urn- or pitcher-like pots, each identified by the name of an immediately recognizable brand of dog food (e.g. Pedigree, Gravy Train, etc.) Each pot also features a portrait - or in some cases multiple portraits - of the rescue dogs that belong to Levy-Lucero’s extended circle of friends in Los Angeles (and beyond.) This idea of ‘community’, of friendships and relationships, and the complexity of the human-animal bond permeates throughout Levy-Lucero’s project. (A notion amplified in the exhibition by the presence of a portrait of Levy-Lucero and his dog Monkey by his friend, the Los Angeles-based artist, Henry Taylor.)

Displayed on a shelf and a stepped approximation of a winner’s podium - with its inevitable emphasis on the hierarchies of 1st, 2nd and 3rd place - Levy-Lucero’s pots might also be read as ‘trophies’ (of a kind). Employing humor aligned with vernacular aesthetics Levy-Lucero’s work is perhaps best characterized by its accessibility. Yet appearances can be deceptive. Indeed the exhibition as a whole, with its arch, even sardonic title Pedigree, and all that that stands for, might be understood as a gently subversive yet pointed critique of the competitive ‘dog eat dog’ nature of both the art world and the Westminster Dog Show: where the aspiration to become the “best in show” (sadly) still prevails.

As a part of the exhibition a percentage of proceeds from sales will be donated to the North Shore Animal League America, a leader in the ‘No Kill Movement’, who since 1944 have saved the lives of more than one million dogs and cats. Their mission is to: “Rescue. Nurture. Adopt. Educate.”

Grant Levy-Lucero (b.1981, Los Angeles) has had solo exhibitions at VNH, Paris (2018); Night Gallery, Los Angeles (2017); and at Henry Taylor’s, Los Angeles (2016.) He recently created a capsule clothing collection for the Stockholm-based Acne Studios. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles.