Up a flight of steps on a Monday afternoon, amid the bustle of construction workers and stacks of canvasses, Moshe Frank was resting on a couch surrounded by a temporary exhibit of prints from the archives of Jewish Educational Media. Images of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, together with political figures and celebrities of the 20thcentury, arrays of Chassidim, and scenery of Crown Heights, were arranged on the walls of one room of the Leviim Gallery. Other rooms were visible from where we sat, talking about the gallery’s mission, business model, and some of their featured artists.
I had spotted the Leviim Gallery a few months ago when it was still in its previous location, a garage on Lincoln Street near Kingston. Little crowds of canvases huddled together on the floor propped against the walls, a few easels supporting larger works. The name of the space, painted over a rainbow on a wooden board, was tacked over the decaying shingles above the garage doorway. The new location, just across the street at 271 Kingston Avenue, is the second story of a building that is flanked by a trendy kosher burger joint and a good-old bodega.
