Naomi Lev and the Art of Process Curating

In Dialogue

Installation view with Naomi Lev at *The Space Between Knowing* exhibition at The TL Studio. Photographed by Argenis Apolinario. Left (top to bottom): Shony Rivnay, *The Loss of Innocence Squared,* 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 43.3 x 43.3 inch; Shony Rivnay, *Keep Movin’,* 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 43.3 x 43.3 inch. Right: Shony Rivnay, *Initiation of Movement No.1*, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 61 x 77 inch.

Naomi Lev is a curator, cultural program director, and arts writer based in New York City. She works closely with living artists and calls her approach “Process Curating”—a method that follows a project from its earliest stages through final installation. It’s about long-term exchange and staying present as ideas shift.

For over 15 years, Lev has organized exhibitions, public programs, and artist-led projects in the U.S. and internationally. Most recently, she served as Director and Chief Curator at EFA Project Space in New York, where she collaborated with more than 160 artists and 19 curators, producing 14 exhibitions and over 50 public programs. In 2024, the gallery explored folklore as a way to think through storytelling, memory, ritual, and tradition in the context of New York’s cultural life. The exhibitions considered how stories are carried, changed, and kept alive.

Other projects took on religion, migration, and displacement. Lev worked with partners to create space for undocumented and asylum-seeking artists, offering food, music, and rest. She also collaborated with The Immigrant Artists Biennial to support artists building their lives and practices in the city. Lev builds exhibitions through conversation. She pays attention to how people gather and how artists shape their own terms. Art Spiel spoke with Lev to learn more about how these values show up in her curatorial work.

Installation view and performance of *The World Is Before You*, curated by Naomi Lev and assistant curator Minji Lee.. Performance by Dario Mohr. Photography by EFA Project Space staff. Image courtesy of The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts.

Tell us about your project Artistsandwriters4ever.com.

The first, Artistsandwriters4ever.com is an online platform that allows artists and writers/curators a work-per-work barter and collaboration. This platform provides a website with a list of artists and curators/writers who are free to communicate with each other and work together on writings, exhibitions, catalogs, and other programs. I have personally had the pleasure of working with artists Eva Davidova and Daniela Kostova on a collaborative exhibition through this platform.

www.artistsandwriters4ever.com

Installation view, *LAZYBOY*. Daniela Kostova, *The Higher Ground*, 2018, Photographic site-specific installation, Shoestrings Gallery. Image courtesy of the artist.

In this case, the artists were invited to create a site-specific installation, and they were seeking a curator to work with them. Together, we produced the exhibition LAZYBOY, which explored capitalist culture’s drowsiness and the threat of ecological disasters. Through VR and site-specific print installations, the artists created an immersive space and hosted an experimental apocalyptic dinner. In essence, the platform fosters collaboration and dialogue, provides an accessible and affordable way to support artists and curators, and enables a valid opportunity for art collecting.

Installation view and performative dinner at LAZYBOY. In the background: Eva Davidova, *Narcissus and Drowning Animals (NYC version)*, 2018, photographic site-specific installation, Shoestring Gallery. Image courtesy of the artist.

Tell us about Collective_View.

The second group, Collective_View, was founded after working for several years with female artists and recognizing the need for conversation and mutual support in the art world. Collective_View is a group of women art professionals (artists, writers, gallerists, curators, and directors) that was established in late 2016. I was strongly inspired by my long-time friend and colleague Anne Swartz, with whom I’ve had long conversations about feminism, and who has run a few feminist groups throughout her career.

Collective_View began with a manifesto and a shared goal of building a supportive community for women to tell their stories in the art world. We discussed labor, rights, and personal experiences, meeting with other women in the field to share and learn from one another. When COVID hit, we sought ways to connect not only through Zoom but also physically. Through a collective brainstorming process, we developed traveling exhibitions that visited each member’s home, featuring works by members and guest artists. These were curated by the curators in the group and resulted in moving, intimate exhibitions that made us feel supported and seen. Since then, we have continued to organize collaborations in alternative indoor and outdoor spaces.

Installation view of Shared View, a collaborative traveling exhibition by Collective_View. Photographed by Kate
Harding. Left to right: Gabrielle Mertz, New Variant, Still 1, 2021, Digital data still; Alva Mooses, ‘SIGN’ fragment from ‘Se Entra Bailando / You Enter Dancing’, 2019, Cement casts; Kate Harding, Untitled (Fortification 8/1/2020), 2020. Archival glitter and metallic ink on paper, 3 x 4 inch; Artifacts.

What is the genesis of Shony Rivnay’s exhibition The Space Between Knowing ?

I’ve been working on various projects with Shony Rivnay for some years now. This closely aligns with my idea of “process curating.” I’ve witnessed the work evolve from a seed of thought into a concept and a sketch. The works have developed throughout the past 9 years into these fascinating, vibrant works of art.

Rivnay began this body of work in 2016 during a residency at I-Park in Connecticut, where the surrounding nature deeply inspired him. It began with outdoor nature sketches, which he later realized were rooted in his childhood experiences with his entomologist father. They used to sit together, peer through a microscope, and draw detailed insects. These small sketches eventually evolved into larger, colorful paintings, which, over time, transformed into more abstract works.

It’s interesting to think about abstraction as a physical form, but here I’m referring to conceptually abstract paintings. Within this process, Rivnay found himself trying to detach from the familiar figures and patterns he inherently produces, and make room for a meditative state, a state of not knowing—only to find that this is a state of constant struggle between the known and the unknown, a back and forth between identification and its release. For me, it mirrors a deeper meditative process in my own life, in which I recognize the ever-changing nature of our existence and the ability to adapt, stay still, and transform.

Dialogue with the artist has been essential to the evolution of the work and the deepening of the process. I would describe Rivnay as both prolific and open-minded, which allowed for a genuine connection and meaningful exchange. The beauty of it unfolding here and now lies in the ripeness of both the conversation and the work itself.

Installation view from *The Space Between Knowing* exhibition at The TL Studio. Photographed by Argenis Apolinario. Left to right: Shony Rivnay, *Prey*, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 43.3 x 35.4 inch; Shony Rivnay, *Untitled Configuration.* 2022, Acrylic on canvas 75.5 x 43.5 inches; Shony Rivnay, *I Wanna Be Like You!,* 2021, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 35 x 43 inch.

Tell us about Rivnay’s show. What will we see there?

The paintings invite us to reconnect with bodily sensations, emotions, and conversation. They reflect our daily challenge to connect with ourselves, either in response to or in spite of external events and the world around us. In the space, you will see very colorful and dynamic abstract paintings that provide a space for contemplation. Some works pull you in, and some keep you on the surface. Some will calm you down, and some will stir your senses.

Rivnay’s process is fueled by a relentless inquiry into natural movements, transitions, and evolution–if these compositions are alive, they must be inextricably linked to time and place. In a 2018 interview, when asked how abstract art can be political, artist Sam Gilliam responded, “It messes with you, it convinces you that what you think isn’t all.” Rivnay’s paintings embody this disruption, revealing that what is perceived in one moment may dissolve into something entirely different the next. The compositions are elusive, intellectually stimulating, and demand a depth of abstract thinking that engages with concrete realities.

As part of the show, we are hosting a few events that are open to the public, including a Dance Performance by Rachel Kosch Dance company on May 17, 6-9pm, and a conversation with the artists and curator on May 21, 6-8pm. The show runs through May 27th. The TL Studio @thetlstudio 102 Franklin Street, #2, Tribeca, NYC. To visit by appointment: Michael Coleman, mike@secondavearts.com

Installation view from *The Space Between Knowing* exhibition at The TL Studio. Photographed by Argenis Apolinario. Left to right: Shony Rivnay, *Through The Binocular,* 2021, Acrylic on canvas. 23.6 x 23.6 inch; Shony Rivnay, *The Sistine Chapel,* 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 74.5 x 60 inch.

Tell us more about the TL Studio.

The studio of painter Tyler Loftis welcomes other artists, poets, musicians, and dancers into the studio on a regular basis. It’s a private, friendly, and collaborative studio and is the type of place that welcomes regular visitors as well as new guests. Unlike a traditional exhibition space, it offers a more intimate setting that encourages exploration, creativity, and connections that go beyond the art object.

The TL Studio. Photographed by Argenis Apolinario. Left to right: Shony Rivnay, *Untitled (Illusion),* 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 35.4 x 43.3 inch; Shony Rivnay, *I Wanna Be Like You!*, 2021, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 35 x 43 inch.

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About the curator: Naomi Lev is a curator, cultural program director, arts writer, and residency director, with more than 15 years of experience overseeing exhibitions, creating programs and events, securing funding and partnership support for projects, and working with artists, curators, collectors, and community groups to expand access to and conversation about the contemporary art field. She has worked with museums, galleries, and entities in the United States and internationally to produce projects and events, including most recently as the Director and Chief Curator of EFA Project Space. She is the founder and lead organizer of two groups (Artists and Writers 4Ever and Collective_View) that provide collaborative connections for those working in the arts, and her practice focuses on socially engaged art and ideas. She has been a contributing writer/editor at Creative Time Reports, ARTFORUM, and The Brooklyn Rail, among other publications. She has served as a visiting critic/curator/juror for numerous institutions, including Hunter College, Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, Residency Unlimited, Parsons, Savannah College of Art and Design, and Bronx Council on the Arts, among others. @naomilev