Ian Leventhal

Sculptor, artist, interior designer, lan Leventhal has achieved a vast body of work over the past 25 years. His imaginative and often whimsical style uses colour and texture in an exuberant display of fantasy and humour, a cross between Matisse and Walt Disney, with a dash of Peter Max, '60 psychedelia and Niki de Saint Phalle.

"Colour, fantasy and humour is what I try to carry through in all my pieces. My message is a simple one; joy and happiness. If when someone looks at one of my pieces and they smile, then I've achieved my objectives."

Born in Toronto in 1951, Leventhal is an honour graduate of Fine Arts from York University. He also studied at the Ontario College of Art and at Sara Lawrence College in Lacoste, France.

He has had several one man art exhibits over the years but is probably best known for his numerous commercial works that adorn and define restaurants, hotels, libraries, malls, school, cafes, hospitals and banks from Toronto to Tel Aviv.

Leventhal's distinctive style has created a major impact on coffee shops across North America with his award winning designs for The Second Cup, a Toronto based, gourmet coffee franchise. Asked to create a new image for a local coffee shop in 1994, Leventhal's Murals, sculptures and mosaics quickly transformed the location into a quirky visual landmark. His designs for the company now embrace over 100 of the popular cafes across the country. Each is totally unique and local touches of Leventhal's exuberant whimsy continue to endear coffee patrons from Halifax to Vancouver.

Recently, the franchise has moved into Israel, where Leventhal's wonderful world of humour and colour now enhances cafes in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan.

But Leventhal's corporate works do not just include coffee. His joyful mosaics, paintings, sculptures and designs grace the walls, floors and ceilings of many prestigious buildings, businesses and public institutions. From commissioned work designing Tiffany's 5th Avenue windows to a one man show in Bloomingdale's Manhattan store in 1984, Leventhal's unique style is instantly recognizable. Included in his roster of commissioned works the Ottawa Weston Hotel swimming pool mural, the Sheraton Hotel in London dining room mural of Tuscany and Renee's Gourmet Salad Dressing colourful, fun and funky trade booth. An imposing series of wall sculptures adorn the lobby of the Leah Posluns Theatre in North York, commemorating a rich musical history. A brilliant series of murals grace the George Brown College and Ryerson Polytechnic University, and an outdoor mural on the north wall of the Forest Hill Public Library in Toronto is a local landmark. Leventhal's unique creative vision has transformed numerous Toronto restaurant over the past few years: East Side Mario's, Bloomsbury Cafe, and, of course, his award winning art deco style murals for The Pickle Barrel Diner.

Leventhal has created numerous outdoor and indoor murals, sculptures, paintings and mosaics that continue to tantalize the public. His largest muraling project, a 35,000 sq.ft. Zarky's Fine Foods building, a Hamilton landmark, features an entire Italian village in trompe l'oeil facades.

King's College, Western University in London, the IBM head offices in Toronto, Holy Blossom Temple, and the Cardinal Carter Library in London all boast Leventhal's colourful works of art.

An eight panel mural installation for the Heritage Museum at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care was a personal joy for Leventhal. The mural depicted Toronto's Kensington Market half a century ago, an area where Leventhal's grandfather once owned a restaurant.

Also close to his heart was a landmark painting chosen by the United Jewish Appeal Federation to mark the 50th Anniversary of Israel's founding in 1998.

Leventhal's philanthropic nature has allowed many of his colourful, stylish creations to delight and enrich several Toronto area hospitals, schools and foundations. In 1997, Leventhal was recognized by UNICEF for a special award honouring his contribution to the arts in Canada. In 1998, Leventhal was the patron artist for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Today, many notable works by this talented artist contribute to delight as each new installation of outrageous colours, whimsy and humour is painted and erected across the country.

In Toronto's renowned BCE Place, Leventhal has created a spectacular sculpture grouping in wood, metal and stone to grace the Friedberg Foreign Exchange Bank.

1999 has been a busy year for Leventhal. He has begun work on four major Hospital murals in St. John's, Newfoundland as well as illustrating the Millennium Christmas Collection for the Second Cup.

A huge, seventy foot, kinetic and special effects facade was designed and installed for EJ.'s Pet Centre in the prestigious Yorkdale Shopping Centre and a three- dimensional, Mediterranean-themed mural for the Manulife Centre on Toronto's Bloor Street.

An original Christmas "Snow Man" sculpture series for Laura Secord Chocolates was followed by a commissioned work for Bell World which became a Canada-wide icon for their holiday advertising season.

And high in the sky, Leventhal's funky designs now enhance Air Canada's new, In- flight coffee groupings.

In December 1999, the Alien Lambert Galleria in BCE Place, in conjunction with the Starlight Children's Foundation, held an Art Exhibit & Sale of 60 pieces of Leventhal's latest sculptures, murals and 3D reliefs, his first one-man show since 1984. A Children's Halloween Village in Toronto's Sky Dome called "Treat Street", designed and painted by Leventhal has played host to thousands of visitors in the Fall of 2000 and 2001. Most recently The Hudson Bay in Toronto, Montreal and Edmonton have commissioned murals to enliven their cafe, fashion and food departments. Onward and upward, Leventhal is ubiquitous. Setting his sights on new heights, from here on you'll look around, smile and say to yourself, that's a Leventhal, I'd recognize his style anywhere.