Stasia Lev and the Global Voice of Ivory Gallery

From Shanghai to Dubai, the artist-turned-gallerist brings powerful female narratives to the world stage.

A woman who juggles paintbrushes, parenthood, worldwide curating, and personal narrative is spearheading a quiet revolution in the center of the modern art world. Artist and Ivory Gallery founder Stasia Lev is reinventing what it means to be a woman in the arts, a gallerist, and an entrepreneur.

Stasia, a native of Saint Petersburg, Russia, has a master's degree in graphic design, but after relocating to Shanghai with her spouse, she began focusing on painting. She started cultivating her own practice there, alone, in a new city, and away from the spotlight. She moved to Chicago during the epidemic and was later admitted to the The Art Institute of Chicago prestigious MFA program. She also subtly established the groundwork for Ivory Gallery, her most ambitious endeavor to date.

What started as a small, artist-run space has expanded into a globally active gallery that connects continents, fosters up-and-coming artists, and shares personal curatorial stories with art enthusiasts all over the world. Stasia says, "I decided to open art gallery because despite the fact of having a newborn, I wanted to be a part of the community and support art as much as my resources would allow me. I wanted to do my part in supporting and showcasing the art I believe in."

This individual act of invention gave rise to a worldwide movement, and 2024 is a pivotal year in the development of Ivory Gallery.

Stasia's gallery is making daring debuts at three significant international art events this spring. Most notably, Diana Motta and Martin Golland's artwork will be on display at Dubai's Ivory Gallery from April 16–20. Deeply evocative, the selection is multi-layered, expressive, and unabashedly intimate.

However, Dubai is only the focal point of a season that has an international impact. Ivory Gallery showcased Atticus Gordon in a solo booth at Art Central in Hong Kong (March 25–30), which used experimental media and sculpture to investigate queerness and transformational issues. In the meantime, Connective Thread, a powerful group exhibition organized by Michelle Alexander and showcasing influential artists including Michelle Grabner, Carmen Neely, Sam Jaffe, Lauren Seiden, and Adrianne Rubenstein, is on display at the gallery in Chicago from April 12–21.

The concept of the show seems closely related to Stasia's curatorial philosophy. Connective Thread explores the intricacies of feminine identity, which is both fragile and resilient.

This philosophy is evident in Stasia's gallery's design as well as in her exhibitions. Beyond merely displaying paintings, Ivory Gallery serves as a venue for artists to congregate, exchange ideas, work together, and build a sense of community. Building genuine, long-lasting relationships with the artists she collaborates with is something Stasia takes great delight in. "Listening is the first step in my curating process," she says. "I'm interested in how artists see their work being displayed and what they hope to get out of the exhibition experience."

With a historic group show in Shanghai from May 23 to August 20, which is the first significant exhibition of all female artists in the area and is curated by Richard Hull with an academic essay by John Yau, her vision takes yet another step forward this summer. In addition to being a significant creative achievement, this performance will be a return to the city where Stasia's adventure discreetly began.

Looking ahead, Stasia still has a lot of goals in mind. She intends to establish a permanent location in Shanghai, where she will represent American artists overseas and promote intercultural communication. There are also plans to establish an art residency program in China that would provide U.S. artists with a place to work, travel, and get ideas.

Her sentence is very important here: "If I woke up feeling happy, I know I succeeded”.

Stasia Lev's concept is refreshingly individualistic in a subject that is frequently controlled by institutional gatekeepers. She continues to demonstrate that one does not have to take the conventional route in order to have a worldwide influence as an artist, curator, mother, and mentor. Rather, by believing in her vision and fostering environments that value inclusivity and empathy, she is redefining success according to her own standards.

Ivory Gallery isn't just Stasia’s Gallery is not just expanding — it's resonating with a growing list of art fair participations and a gallery format that prioritizes female voices and cross-cultural storytelling. Stasia Lev, a woman whose life is held together by bravery, ingenuity, and the conviction that too much is never enough, is at the center of it all.