American Gothic, Rissa and Cash Murphy at their home, Chandler, Arizona Spring of ’14  - Jon Levi

SADDLE RIVER, NJ — What happens when the artistic traditions of the Renaissance meet the backyards, abandoned buildings and everyday landscapes of modern America?

Deaf photographer Jon Levi has spent more than two decades exploring that question, creating striking and sometimes outrageous images that combine classical beauty with contemporary American life.

A selection of his work will be featured in “Strip Mall Madonnas: Tableaux of a New World,” an exhibition running November 14–28, 2026, at the Paul Larsen Gallery, 11 Barnstable Court, Saddle River.

Opening receptions will be held Saturday, November 14, and Wednesday, November 25, both beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Levi’s photographs are anything but conventional.

In one image, a nude woman pushes a lawn mower in a suburban Arizona backyard, offering an unexpected interpretation of the famous painting American Gothic. In another, a woman poses as Botticelli’s Venus amid discarded automobile tires in an abandoned New York building. Elsewhere, models inhabit surreal scenes in ordinary homes, desert landscapes and neglected industrial spaces.

The results are colorful, theatrical, frequently humorous and sometimes startling.

Rather than photographing traditional landscapes or idealized studio settings, Levi finds inspiration in places most people would overlook. His work draws on centuries of painting and sculpture while embracing the contradictions, eccentricities and visual clutter of contemporary American culture.

The exhibition brings together photographs created over a 26-year period, reflecting Levi’s longstanding fascination with the relationship between classical art and the modern world.

A photographer for more than four decades, Levi maintains a studio at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City. His work has been exhibited in New York, New Jersey, California and internationally.

He recently received a Bronze Award in the One Shot Photo Contest for his photograph In the Fields of the Lord.

“Strip Mall Madonnas” offers visitors an opportunity to experience a highly individual artistic vision that challenges conventional notions of beauty, artistic tradition and the American landscape.

As Levi puts it:

“Study the old masters. They were here before us and they will be here after us.”

EXHIBITION DETAILS

What: Strip Mall Madonnas: Tableaux of a New World, photographs by Jon Levi

Where: Paul Larsen Gallery, 11 Barnstable Court, Saddle River, NJ 07458

When: November 14–28, 2026

Opening receptions: Saturday, November 14, and Wednesday, November 25, at 6:30 p.m.

Artist website: www.jonlevi.com

Instagram: @jonlevifineartphotography

PRESS CONTACT

Paul Larsen
Paul Larsen Gallery
paullarsen@gmail.com
www.paullarsengallery.com

Photographs including uncensored fine-art images, are available for publication. Media interviews with the artist may be arranged through the gallery.