Junkmonger Laura Levine's eclectic background as a
cross-disciplinary visual artist has led her to pursue
a variety of projects in independent filmmaking, photography,
illustration, television animation, and now.......clutter.
Her first documentary feature film, Digging
for Dutch: The Search for the Lost Treasure of Dutch Schultz,
had its International Premiere as an official selection of
the Edinburgh International Film Festival in August
2002, and its World Premiere at the 2001 Woodstock Film
Festival, where it won the Kodak-sponsored 2001
Torchlight Award for Best Feature-Length Film,
presented by the New York City Film Project. The film has
been the subject of feature articles in the New Yorker,
the New York Times, The London Sunday Telegraph,
Harvard Magazine, and the National Examiner.
Levine’s first documentary short film, Peekaboo
Sunday -- the brief and hilarious tale of one
woman and her six disobedient miniature horses—had its
world premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival
as an official selection in the Short Film competition, and
has gone on to screen at numerous film festivals, including
the Florida Film Festival, the Atlanta Film &
Video Festival, the Lake Placid Film Forum,
the New York Comedy Film Festival, and the Boston
Museum of Fine Arts, among others.
Before trying her hand at documentary filmmaking, Levine's
career as a music photographer in New York during the heyday
of punk rock, hip-hop and new wave enabled her to work with
everyone from Björk to James Brown for magazines such
as Rolling Stone, The New York Rocker,
and England’s Sounds. She
directed music videos for Lisa Germano and Giant Sand, and
worked with R.E.M. and other Athens, Georgia musicians on
the Super-8 underground classic, Just Like A Movie
(1984).
As an award-winning self-taught illustrator, Levine has
collaborated on three children's books: Wig!,
with the B-52's (Hyperion), Shake, Rattle &
Roll: The Founders of Rock & Roll, and
Honky-Tonk Heroes and Hillbilly Angels: The Pioneers
of Country & Western Music (Houghton Mifflin,
words b George-Warren). Levine’s illustrations have
appeared in the pages of Time, Rolling Stone,
Blab! and The New Yorker
as well on the covers of numerous books and CDs.
Levine’s paintings have been exhibited internationally
and are part of the permanent collection of the Museum
of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, The House of
Blues, MTV Corporate Headquarters and the
Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome.
Her work is in numerous private collections, including those
of Harry Shearer & Judith Owen, Nora Ephron, Lisa Bonet,
Laurie & Larry David, and Cher. Levine’s paintings
from Shake, Rattle & Roll were exhibited at
the Experience Music Project (EMP) in Seattle, the
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland
(for a four month solo exhibition), Yard Dog Folk Art,
and the Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock, Texas. Levine’s
work in animation has been screened as part of the 2000
Animation Festival at the Museum of Television &
Radio, and she was commissioned to create and develop
an animated series pilot for MTV.
In her spare time, Levine, who grew up in New York
City's Chinatown and graduated from Harvard University,
is the proprietress of
Homer & Langley's Mystery Spot
Antiques, an unusual antique/ junk/oddities shop in
Phoenicia, New York.
Our Motto: "Clutter My World"
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