Most of the drawings feature meticulously rendered patterns, a new twist for Levine that evokes rhythm. “I Will Take You to the Heights of Carol Mountain,’’ a smaller piece, sports a repeating black triangle with bulbous sides half encircled with a rainbow. Wilson reportedly had a crush on Carol Mountain in high school. Near the bottom of the drawing, Levine collages a photo of him. The pattern, with its black center and rainbow ring, takes on the throbbing energy of obsession and unrequited love.
Levine’s crisp patterns and sharp tones recall Matisse. “Gold Brian,’’ another Wilson portrait ringed with yellow circles and a red band in a sea of blue, refers to Andy Warhol’s “Gold Marilyn.’’ “I’m Still in Love with Emily Kane’’ takes its title from an Art Brut song about another old high school love, and it echoes the bed frame and yellow tones in Van Gogh’s painting of his bedroom in Arles. Levine’s works engage with the brightness of a Beach Boys song, but they also ache with vulnerability.
Painterly pieces
Casey Roberts is not a photographer, but he paints with a cyanotype photo emulsion, coating a sturdy sheet of paper with it and exposing it to light. He blocks the sun from certain areas to leave them white. He adds baking soda or a bleach solution to change the tone from blue to yellow. Then he may tack on collaged elements.
The results, at Walker Contemporary, are sultry, painterly pieces with gorgeous tones and brushwork. Commentaries on humanity’s abuse of nature, they are sometimes aphoristic or chiding. In “don’t just stand there man,’’ those words are carved into a tree trunk, as if to prod the viewer to action. “Kill kill kill kill 2’’ depicts a tree stump thinking murderous thoughts. The colors and textures are subtler; deftly drawn fir trees lean over their fallen comrade.
