signed lower left Kis Lev
95x110cm
Jonathan Kis-Lev was born in 1985, in Mishmar Ayalon, Israel.
Kis-Lev is an Israeli painter who at the age of five began private lessons with a Russian artist who taught the young boy the art of watercolors and oils. He studied at some of Israel’s best schools of arts, and at the age of sixteen won a scholarship to study at Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific in British Columbia, Canada, where he majored in visual art under the guidance of artist Art Brendon.
At the age of 21 Kis-Lev exhibited his first solo exhibition in Tel Aviv. Attended by many, including Tel Aviv’s Mayor Ron Huldai, the exhibition marked his debut in the Israeli art world. Soon after, Leumi Bank, one of Israel’s largest banks, purchased numerous paintings for the bank’s art collection. The artist began exhibiting in several galleries in Israel and abroad, while continuing to develop his style and technique.
Over the years, Kis-Lev experimented in various artistic techniques and mediums, from watercolors and oils to etching and sculpting. In 2006 the artist began focusing primarily on oil on canvas paintings. In 2008 the artist began experimenting with several techniques that were meant to enable him to “forget” all of his rigid art tutoring over the years, and begin “painting like a child again”. He began painting the outline of some paintings with his eyes shut. Eventually the artist began painting the painting while the canvas was placed upside down, in order to paint in what he considered to be “naïve way”. Beginning in 2008, Kis-Lev developed his unique style, often referred to as pseudo-naïve by art critics. The artist somewhat adopted the commonalities of traditional naïve paint, such as bright colors, variations with rules of perspective.
Today Kis-Lev has studios in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and is exhibited regularly in nine galleries around the world.
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