'Four Horsemen' by Dave Lebow on view at La Luz de Jesus Gallery.
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Over the phone, Dave Lebow, a graduate of CalArts Experimental Animation MFA Program (00), is a pretty upbeat guy. You’d never know it, though, from his most recent artwork—oil on canvas pieces filled with images of fire and brimstone, influenced by the biblical stories found in the Book of Revelations.
Lebow, a representational painter and illustrator, began exploring the dark subject matter last year when he was commissioned to paint seven Doomsday pictures for Dexter, a Showtime TV series that focuses on the life of a serial killer. The pieces Lebow developed and created for the Dexter depicted themes of death, vanity, monsters, demons and angels, rapture and falling from grace.
The seven Doomsday works are included in End Time Visions, a solo exhibit that opens tonight (June 1) at La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles. They’ll be displayed alongside other Lebow paintings that loosely follow the same subject matter.
Although he has previously worked as an animator, Lebow—who also teaches advanced Life Drawing at CalArts—now strictly works in painting, particularly traditional oil painting. He says that he wanted to challenge himself with alternative, yet realistic, subject matter instead of painting “flowers, fruits and beautiful things.” The photo gallery, above, showcases the answers to that challenge.
End Time Visions is on view through July 1.
End Time Visions
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles
Opening Reception: Friday, June 1 from 8-11 pm