TAYLOR — With its vibrant hues of blue, red and gray, a 10-foot-rendition of the Transformers character Optimus Prime along the wall of Potter’s Alley looms larger than life — and so does the artist who painted the iconic alien robot.
At 6-feet 4-inches tall, this is literally true for Dennis Gustav Levitin, a Danish-born street muralist, Taylor Press cartoonist, hip-hop performer and dedicated dad, who often towers over the people around him.
But if that weren’t enough, for many years Levitin could also be seen walking through downtown Taylor clad in a Spider-Man onesie with his son, Mikail, now 12.
“When my son was young, I was aware that he was not going to be 4 or 5 or 6 again, so I had fun with him,” Levitin said. “It was for me and Mikail. Both of us would go all dressed up for movie premieres at the Howard (Theatre) for ‘Star Wars’ and other movies .. . but Spider-Man was just our thing.”
Levitin credits his native Denmark for a diverse childhood filled with theater, playing outside, dressing up in costumes and more, which later inspired his parenting as well as a career as a counselor for at-risk youth through a Danish afterschool program.
“I used a lot of my imagination there,” Levitin said. “I was drawing for the kids. We were playing Lego and making swords out of foam. We were making graffiti and doing anti-bullying campaigns.”
Levitin, who is part Jewish, said his family escaped the Holocaust during World War II by fleeing to Sweden.
Though Levitin was raised in a secular home and wasn’t even told about his ancestry until he was a teenager due to family fears of antisemitism and trauma, he has since studied the Torah and explores the Jewish faith through his art and music.
One reason for Levitin’s fascination with comic book characters also has to do with discovering the Jewish identity of some of the creators of his favorite childhood superheroes.
“A lot of the forerunners in this business were American Jewish immigrants, European immigrants, who came over here,” he said. “The men who formed Superman were Hungarian immigrants, and Stan Lee (the creator of Spider-Man) is also Jewish.”
Levitin said he immigrated to Taylor for love in 2009. However, he stayed even after the relationship did not work out for his son’s sake and for the many people in town who had become like family.
“Taylor is wonderful,” Levitin said. “I can’t say anything negative about the community.”
Levitin’s colorful cartoon illustrations and murals can be seen all over town, including on the walls of Old Taylor High, in the courtyard of Black Sparrow Music Parlor, on the garden door of St. James’ Episcopal Church and in other locales.
Black Sparrow owner Shannon Bagent, who has hired Levitin to work her door during live music performances for many years, said Levitin has become a lifelong friend.
“I feel like he has supported me more than me supporting him,” Bagent said. “He has provided art at no cost to me for my venue, which adds artistic integrity to the place. Not to mention he’s my only door guy. He has never not shown up. He has never been late.”
But Bagent didn’t know how good of a rapper Levitin was until he performed during an open mic night about a year into his working there, she said.
“He said, ‘Drop the beat, Shannon,’” Bagent recalled. “And I did drop the beat. And he became this superhero-type stretched out across the stage, with his arms out and legs spread out in the most charismatic physical cadence.”
“It just blew my mind,” she added. Levitin even played a role in the genesis of Potter’s Alley several years ago after befriending several building owners. They wanted to clean up the alley and encouraged him to paint on their rear exterior walls and even collaborate with them on several art projects.
The alley is located behind the McCrory Timmerman Building at Second and North Main streets.
“One day a guy who owns a building (on Potter’s Alley) sees me doing graffiti and street art with my chalk stuff, and he likes the art,” Levitin said. “I did not ask to paint on his wall. I did not have any plans on doing graffiti on the buildings downtown, but it was requested by people who like this type of art.”
Fellow artist Judy Blundell, the owner of the McCrory Timmerman Building, was one of those people. Blundell said she hired Levitin as a kitchen cook for a delicatessen she used to run and has had him illustrate a dog on the back of the structure along the alley among other art projects over the years for different events and exhibitions.
“He is a talented artist, and he is more than anything, I think, willing to do whatever it takes to keep his son safe,” said Blundell.
“He’s one of those guys who is always open,” she added. “He doesn’t seem to have a ‘too-hard’ basket.”
Jason Hennington, the former editor of the Taylor Press and now a Hutto High School educator, said during the COVID-19 pandemic, Levitin jumped at the chance to create a semiautobiographical cartoon strip featuring him and his son, which still runs every Sunday in the newspaper.
“I was like, ‘Hey, a comic book would be great if you could do that for the paper,’” Hennington said. “And he was just like, ‘Just tell me what you want, and we will go from there.’” Since that time, Levitin has used the medium to have fun and to show his creativity — but also to raise awareness about local issues, Hennington said.
“He did one where he and Mikail were over by one of the parks, and apparently there had been people who had run over turtles and messed with them,” Hennington said. “In the cartoon, he and Mikail saved a turtle, and then at the end of it, Mikail was like, ‘Hey, these animals are here too. This is their home.’” Levitin also volunteers with Taylor Press’ annual 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament to support local scholarships and nonprofits.
“He is basically the director of the youth part,” said Hennington, the tournament’s organizer. “He makes sure all the games go on, he makes sure everybody that needs to play is there and ready, and he keeps all the scores.”
Despite being a Scandinavian-born graffiti artist, Hennington said Levitin has become an integral part of the Taylor community — and he is glad to have him as a friend.
“At first it was like, ‘Hmm, who is this guy again, and where is he from?’” Hennington said. “I asked him a couple of times, ‘How did you end up in Taylor?’ And he would go through the whole thing. And then I’d be like ‘OK, with everything that happened to you, this is where you are supposed to be. There is a reason you are here.’”
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