From the Sleep Side: Levinthal, Biala, Tal R at Berlin Art Week

During Berlin Art Week, the exhibition 'From the Sleep Side' opened, featuring a cross-generational and transcontinental survey of three artists. The show places contemporary figurative painting in a historical dialogue, focusing on new works by American artist Aubrey Levinthal (b. 1986). Her recent paintings are exhibited alongside works by Biala (Janice Biala, 1903–2000) and Tal R (b. 1967), both of whom are significant references and inspirations for Levinthal. The exhibition's title derives from a description by poet Anne Carson of a disorienting dream in which she entered her living room at night to find all lights on, everything in its usual place, yet utterly different. She reasoned she had 'caught the living room sleeping' and entered it 'from the sleep side.' The selection of paintings by Levinthal and the others is presented in this conceptual framework, exploring themes of familiarity and strangeness in domestic spaces. The exhibition is part of Berlin Art Week, an annual event that brings together galleries, museums, and art institutions across the German capital.