By: Robert Phillips

“Synergy”

Jeffery M. Leving, a visual artist, attorney, and author of three groundbreaking books, most recently, How to Be a Good Divorced Dad, which garnered praise from both President Obama and Cardinal Francis George, exhibited three of his unique paintings at the River East Art Center: “Floating Spaces #7,” “In the Reeds,” and “Synergy” on March 20, 2013. Josh Hoff of International Art Magazine wrote that, “If suffering is indeed permanent, obscure, and dark and shares the nature of infinity, then it can be witnessed in Chicago attorney artist Jeffery Leving’s paintings, both of which were inspired by his involvement in the Elian Gonzalez case.”  In 2012, paintings from Jeffery Leving’s “Floating Spaces” series exhibited at the William Hill Gallery were published in ARTnews Magazine and in Chicago Gallery News promoting the show.

After this show, Attorney Jeffery M. Leving presented Chicago Alderman Robert W. Fioretti with his original piece, “In the Reeds,” on May 19, 2013, to be displayed at City Hall for the benefit of visitors.

Leving’s visceral, gestural, abstract expressionist pieces tap the unspoken psychological content of struggle and transcendence, combining forms and figures with primitive markings and surreal spaces, all bound together by a serene compositional economy. His paintings reflect the spiritual struggle that men face trying find their footing in the contemporary world and to journey through the world in a way that honors their sense of self-worth as well as the needs of children to be respected and cared for.

River East Art Center is considered the premier high-end art exhibition venue in the city of Chicago. The historical building, built in 1905 on a strip of land set aside by Chicago’s first mayor, offers stunning views of the city from its vantage point on the edge of the Chicago River. The venue is the latest in a series of important gallery spaces where Leving has shown his unusual and emotionally striking work.

“In the Reeds”

“Floating Spaces #7”