Jonathan LeVine Gallery was all fun and glee at this Saturday's opening for four rising stars in the art world--Alex Gross, Erik Mark Sandberg, and the creative duo known as The Date Farmers. With so much talent in the house, it's a good thing our photographer buddy George Koroneos was present to capture the night's festivities on film. Check it all out here...

Jonathan LeVine Gallery was all fun and glee at this Saturday's opening for four rising stars in the art world--Alex Gross, Erik Mark Sandberg, and the creative duo known as The Date Farmers.

In person, Alex Gross looks nothing like you would picture him to look like. With a baseball cap covering his eyes, the artist quietly meandered through the room, picking and choosing his conversations and graciously smiling at fans who swooned over his series of large-scale paintings in the traditional Alex Gross East meets West motif. Mysteries and Manners doesn't seem to have one common theme, yet none of the paintings could be confused as anything but Alex Gross originals. Birds and creatures, beautiful women wielding strawberry ice cream cones, a marriage made in Eden--Gross's subjects might be all over the place, but his meticulous lines and stunning attention to detail make his work flawless and pricey. Hierophant, depicting a four armed King Tut, sold for $32,000.

Folks walking into the side gallery were in for a shock, as the Date Farmer's floor-to-ceiling collection of street art, dubbed The Crying Playboy was drenched with color and won the award for the brightest room in the gallery. Yes, people were wearing shades.

The Date Farmers, Armando Lerma and Carlos Ramirez, did not shy away from their fans, signing autographs and sketching in every black book put in front of them. They even had a photographer documenting every step they took. Images of Jesus, pop culture design, and logos stood out among the saturated orange and yellow tones. The pieces looked similar to Faile's work, but with more of a religious bent.

Tucked in the back gallery was a collection of sparkly paintings by Erik Mark Sandberg. I'm not kidding, most of the work is be-speckled with glitter, augmenting the rainbow colored pastels that detail Sandberg's work. Effigies of Superman, flying horses, and aliens are the focus of the series titled The Equilibrium of Glamour. One painting, We're Considering Retakes, stands out among the rest. It is a mixed media marvel that shows depicts a blood-shot eyed wolf person staring sadly at the viewer. The name of the piece just sends shivers up the spine.

The show will run through May 3. For more information, visit www.jonathanlevinegallery.com.

Photos and text by George Koroneos.

Alex Gross, Armando Lerma, Carlos Ramirez, Erik Mark Sandberg

Work by the Date Farmers

Armando Lerma

Erik Mark Sandberg

We're Considering Retakes by Erik Mark Sandberg

Alex Gross poses with his wife, the inspiration for The Mandolin

The Tragedy by Alex Gross, also the album cover for the Blonde Redhead's record.

The Date Farmers

The Interpreter by the Date Farmers

Close look at The Surrender by Alex Gross

Art critic Carlo McCormick's son Tristan takes center stage while dad watches proudly

Close look at Glamour Panel 8 by Erik Mark Sandberg

artist Xiaoqing Ding mingles

Disability by the Date Farmers

Hard looks

A Disconnect in the Union by Erik Mark Sandberg

Mark Dean Veca and Ron English

Hierophant by Alex Gross

Jonathan Viner

Temerario by the Date Farmers

Business in the front, party in the back: Kidlew and The Date Farmers

Glamour Panel 6 by Erik Mark Sandberg

Josh Liner, Shawn Barber, and Jonathan LeVine

Ice Cream Cone (despair) by Alex Gross

Keepin' the music going

Wall of Gross

Tristan McCormick signs for the Date Farmers

Poison by the Date Farmers

Sketches all around

Funky Monkey

Checking out the art

LeVine strikes a pose

Art is always better with a drink

A full house

Inked

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