marilyn levine
Born 1935 in Alberta, Canada.
Died April 2nd, 2005 in Oakland, California.
education
Bachelor of Science, Chemistry, 1957, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Master of Science, Chemistry, 1959, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Master of Arts, 1970, University of California, Berkeley, California
Master of Fine Arts, Sculpture, 1971, University of California, Berkeley, California
professional teaching
1962-64
Campion College, Regina.
1966-69
University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus.
1968, 71
University of Calgary. (Summers)
1971
University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus.
1972
University of California, Davis.
1972-73
University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus.
1973-75, 76
University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
1975, 76-80
University of California, Berkeley.
1981
California State University, Hayward.
selected honors and awards
City of Calgary Scholarship to the University of Alberta, 1953.
Second Prize, Oil Still Life, Calgary Exhibition and Stampede, 1957.
Canadian Ceramics, Potters’ Club of Montreal, Prize for Stoneware, 1967.
Canadian Guild of Crafts Exhibition, Canadian National Exhibition, Honorable Mention, 1968.
Canada Council Short Term Grant, 1968.
Canada Council Arts Bursary, 1969.
Canadian Ceramics, Louise and Adolph Schwenk Memorial Prize for Sculpture, 1969.
XXVII Concorso Internazionale della Ceramica d’Arte, Medaglia d’Oro, 1969.
First prize, University Art Museum Opening Student Exhibition, Worth Ryder Art Gallery, Berkeley, 1970.
Canada Council Short Term Grant, 1970.
Designer Craftsman ’71, Award for Ceramics, Richmond Art Center, 1971.
Canadian Ceramics, Honorable Mention, 1971.
Canada Council Short Term Grant, 1972.
International Academy of Ceramics, Medal, 1973.
Canada Council Arts Grant, 1973.
Canada Council Travel Grant, 1974.
Associates of Brand Library Art Center Purchase Award, Ceramic Conjunction, 1975.
David P. Gardner Faculty Research Grant, University of Utah, 1975.
National Endowment for the Arts, Visual Artists Fellowship Grant, 1976.
Canada Council Senior Arts Grant Award., 1977.
Canada Council Travel Grant. 1978.
National Endowment for the Arts, Master Craftsmen Apprenticeship Grant, 1978.
SOLO SHOWS GROUP SHOWS BIBLIOGRAPHY PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
© 1999-2005 Marilyn Levine. All rights reserved. Marilyn Levine Dies at 69; Sculptor
of Leathery Works
By ROBERTA SMITH
Published: April 10, 2005
Correction Appended
Marilyn Levine, a prominent ceramic sculptor known for
deceptively realistic renditions of leather goods, died on
April 2 at her home in Oakland, Calif. She was 69.
The cause was mucosal melanoma, said John Allen, her
partner of 25 years.
Ms. Levine was born Marilyn Hayes in Medicine Hat, Alberta, in 1935 and grew up in Calgary. Interested in art
as a child, she veered toward math and science, earning bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry at the
University of Alberta in Edmonton. She also married a chemist, Sydney Levine, in 1959; they divorced in 1977.
With teaching jobs for women scarce, Ms. Levine began studying art intermittently at the University of Regina.
By the late 1960's, she was committed to ceramics and exhibiting frequently in Canada. In 1969, she and her
husband moved to the Bay Area, where California Funk, a quasi-Surrealistic style that embraced ceramics along
with goofy, exaggerated representations of daily life, was heating up. She earned a master of arts (1970) and a
master of fine arts (1971) from University of California, Berkeley, whose well-known ceramics faculty included
Peter Voulkos.
Ms. Levine's Funk phase included sculptures of shoes and sneakers oozing bright glaze. When a friend brought
her his beat-up work shoes, she began to see old leather objects as metaphors for the passage of time and the
scars of life. She developed a meticulous trompe l'oeil style, capturing in fired clay and glaze the forms,
surfaces and creases of much-used luggage, gloves, hand-bags, a golf bag, a knapsack and even leather jackets
hanging from coat hooks.
Along with figurative sculptors like Duane Hanson and John De Andrea, her work was initially seen as a threedimensional equivalent of Photo Realism and was included in "Sharp-Focus Realism" at the Sidney Janis
Gallery in New York in 1971.
But as time passed, her career unfolded mostly in the ceramics world.
Ms. Levine showed at the Hansen Fuller Gallery in San Francisco in 1971 and had her first New York show at
the Bernard Danenberg Gallery in 1973. In 1974 she had the first of seven exhibitions at the O.K. Harris Gallery
in SoHo. In the mid 1990's, she began to revisit her Funk beginnings with ceramic cups that appeared to be
made of cut-up leather sneakers.
Ms. Levine's work is in the collections of many museums in the United States and Canada; in 1998, it was the
subject of a retrospective at MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina.
In addition to Mr. Allen, Ms. Levine is survived by a brother, Robert Hayes of Calgary.
Marilyn Levine
American trompe-l'oeil sculptor
Canadian ceramist Marilyn
Levine studied sculpture in Canada
and the USA. Levine has become well
known for her hyper-realistic renderings
of leather briefcases, handbags, jackets
and the like, in the trompe-l'oeil
tradition.
Other artists have also worked in this
tradition, e.g. Ah Leon and Richard
Shaw, but Levine devoted her efforts
with great effect to the rendering of a
single material - leather.
Levine uses a stoneware body to which
she adds 1 1/5 - 2% chopped nylon
fiber, a process she developed in 1969.
She builds the pieces much like you
would build a real suitcase, bag, or
whatever. However, clay being much
heavier than leather, or canvas, needs
to be supported with an interior
armature, in anything larger than a
small handbag. Levine's gets her
surface colors from colored engobes
she rolls onto f the slab prior to the
basic construction.
Levine taught at the University of Regina, in Canada from 1966-73, the
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, from 1973-76 and at the University of
California, Berkeley, from 1976-80.
Photos by Richard Sargent & courtesy M. Levine. © 1999-2003
6/23/2014
Marilyn Levine Artworks
HRH Briefcase
1985
32.7 x 44.7 x 16.3 cm.
JA CKETS BOOTS CUPS STRA PS BA CK to Artwork s
© 1999-2005 Marilyn Le vine . All rights re se rve d.
Photo: R ichard Sarge nt
http://www.marilynlevine.com/artworkframeset.html
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6/23/2014
Marilyn Levine Artworks
Baby’s Boot
1975
3.5 x 2.5 x 6 inches
JA CKETS BA GS/CA SES CUPS STRA PS BA CK to Artwork s
© 1999-2005 Marilyn Le vine . All rights re se rve d.
http://www.marilynlevine.com/artworkframeset.html
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6/23/2014
Marilyn Levine Artworks
Whyte Eice
1995
15.9 x 10.2 x 19.1 cm.
JA CKETS BOOTS BA GS/CA SES STRA PS BA CK to Artwork s
© 1999-2005 Marilyn Le vine . All rights re se rve d.
Photo: R ichard Sarge nt
http://www.marilynlevine.com/artworkframeset.html
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6/23/2014
Marilyn Levine Artworks
Spot’s Suitcase
1981
21.6 x 73.7 x 45.7 cm.
JA CKETS BOOTS CUPS STRA PS BA CK to Artwork s
© 1999-2005 Marilyn Le vine . All rights re se rve d.
Photo: R ichard Sarge nt
http://www.marilynlevine.com/artworkframeset.html
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6/23/2014
Marilyn Levine Artworks
Sandi’s Mailbag
1980
44.5 x 48.3 x 15.2 cm.
JA CKETS BOOTS CUPS STRA PS BA CK to Artwork s
© 1999-2005 Marilyn Le vine . All rights re se rve d.
Photo: Don Hall
http://www.marilynlevine.com/artworkframeset.html
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6/23/2014
Marilyn Levine Artworks
Large Strap with Buckle
1981
14.5 inches long
JA CKETS BOOTS BA GS/CA SES CUPS BA CK to Artwork s
© 1999-2005 Marilyn Le vine . All rights re se rve d.
http://www.marilynlevine.com/artworkframeset.html
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6/23/2014
Marilyn Levine Artworks
John’s Other Boots
1972
6.5 x 5 x 12.5 inches each
JA CKETS BA GS/CA SES CUPS STRA PS BA CK to Artwork s
© 1999-2005 Marilyn Le vine . All rights re se rve d.
http://www.marilynlevine.com/artworkframeset.html
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6/23/2014
Marilyn Levine Artworks
Johan’s Jacket
1990
90.0 x 51.8 x 17.6 cm.
BOOTS BA GS/CA SES CUPS STRA PS BA CK to Artwork s
© 1999-2005 Marilyn Le vine . All rights re se rve d.
Photo: R ichard Sarge nt
http://www.marilynlevine.com/artworkframeset.html
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6/23/2014
Marilyn Levine Artworks
Fringed Cup
1974
12.1 x 15.9 x 10.2 cm.
JA CKETS BOOTS BA GS/CA SES STRA PS BA CK to Artwork s
© 1999-2005 Marilyn Le vine . All rights re se rve d.
Photo: R ichard Sarge nt
http://www.marilynlevine.com/artworkframeset.html
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6/23/2014
Marilyn Levine Artworks
Bob’s Cowboy Boots
1973
left: 33.7 x 34.1 x 13.0 cm.
right: 33.3 x 33.5 x 15.4 cm.
JA CKETS BA GS/CA SES CUPS STRA PS BA CK to Artwork s
© 1999-2005 Marilyn Le vine . All rights re se rve d.
Photo: Don Hall
http://www.marilynlevine.com/artworkframeset.html
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6/23/2014
Marilyn Levine Artworks
Black School Bag
1980
31.1 x 35.6 x 6.4 cm.
JA CKETS BOOTS CUPS STRA PS BA CK to Artwork s
© 1999-2005 Marilyn Le vine . All rights re se rve d.
Photo: Marilyn Le vine
http://www.marilynlevine.com/artworkframeset.html
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