Bethany Czarnecki & Dan Levenson

Abstraction of the Stream

BOZOMAG is excited to present a two-person exhibition with Bethany Czarnecki & Dan Levenson, “Abstraction of the Stream” at our Cresthaven location on Saturday, June 15th. An opening reception will be held from 12-5PM, that same day. The exhibition will be on view thru July 13th.

Tangible energy cascades with simultaneous fluidity. Tessellations that exist as reactions to the works enacted before. Connective streams of consciousness that communicate a cohesive narrative while giving way to what’s new.

Both Bethany Czarnecki and Dan Levenson have created a poetic “other space” in their art practices. Although visually dichotomous in their aesthetic execution, both artists invite the viewer into an atmospheric liminal reality of their own design. While concurrently commenting on historical ways of executing painting, Abstraction of the Stream as an exhibition aims to showcase the inherent diversity that exists within non-representational painting. Often categorized and misunderstood as a reductive movement — both Czarnecki and Levenson inject personal and esoteric narrative into their practice, thus utilizing abstraction as a poignant narrative device.

Bethany Czarnecki’s kaleidoscopic explorations meld the familiar with the obscure. Recognizable interpretations of the female form blend within pastural landscapes. Potent color theory born from hyperspace binds cohesive arrangements that are distinguishably present. However, as she reconfigures these specific moments throughout the exhibition, she forms a phosphorescent, extraterrestrial landscape transmuted from another dimension. Constant in their evolution, Czarnecki mythicizes the unpredictability of nature in all forms through the usage of compositional manipulation.

Dan Levenson’s multidisciplinary practice revolves around the fictitious, State Art Academy, Zurich (SKZ) — an anthropomorphized, Bauhaus-influenced art school that exists in the abstract. Levenson becomes the student, taking strict assignments that coalesce into differentiating lessons that implicitly forge and highlight the mathematical components in composition and color. Levenson's paintings expand into a “world-building” reality complete with installation, furniture and board games. Abstraction of the Stream’s sculptural component is a student locker constructed by Levenson, full of miscellaneous assignments.

Czarnecki and Levenson’s otherworldly reverie transports an audience to a metaphysical plane hybridized within the past and present. The proverbial “stream” within itself historically embodies a multitude of meanings. Gertrude Stein’s literary device du jour dictates that rather than revealing the character's personalities in action, Stein chose to place the focus on the characters' stream of consciousness to omnipotently make connections.

Both artist’s application of spiritual mechanics and calculated intention materialize as a dynamic conversation in contemporary abstraction without necessary force.

Eased in, like a relaxing stream. 

Open Hours will be held every Saturday & Sunday, 12-5PM.

Bethany Czarnecki's most recent exhibitions include solstice, Public Service Gallery (2024; Stockholm, Sweden); Push and Pull, a group exhibition at Andrew Reed (2024; Miami, FL); A memory, eternal, Massey Klein Gallery (2023; New York, NY); Shades of Abstraction: Bethany Czarnecki and Jeremy Lawson, F2T Gallery (2023; Milan, IT), Immersed, a group exhibition curated by Jack Siebert (2023; Los Angeles, CA), a solo viewing room presentation at Night Gallery (2022; Los Angeles, CA , a group exhibition at BOZOMAG (2022; Los Angeles, CA) and a group exhibition at Core Club (2022; New York, NY), curated by Natasha Schlesinger and Christine Mack.  Her work has previously been exhibited nationally at galleries and museums, including the Katonah Museum of Art (Katonah, NY), Hollis Taggart (Southport, CT), and the Westport Art Center (Westport, CT).


Dan Levenson is a Los Angeles-based visual artist working in installation, performance, video, painting, and sculpture. His work explores the relationship of art and freedom through the lens of art education. The paintings and objects he creates represent artifacts rescued from the ruins of an imaginary art school: the State Art Academy, Zurich (its initials in Swiss-German dialect are SKZ). As a painter, he completes classroom exercises for imaginary students, following the strict formalist pedagogy of the SKZ. Metric standard sized canvases are divided geometrically to create abstract compositions. He expands on the story through performance, installation and video. Levenson has taught performative drawing lessons taken from the school’s curriculum at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, American Jewish University, Los Angeles, USC’s Roski School of Art, and the Saas-Fee Summer Institute in Berlin, Germany.  Levenson has exhibited at The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; The Philadelphia Art Alliance; James Fuentes Online; Vielmetter Los Angeles; Honor Fraser, Los Angeles; Praz-Delavallade, Paris and Los Angeles; de boer Gallery, Los Angeles; Timothy Hawkinson Gallery, Los Angeles, PARTICIPANT INC, NYC; LAXART, Los Angeles; White Columns, NYC; and Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA. He is the recipient of a Pollock/Krasner grant and Yaddo and MacDowell Fellowships, among other awards.