“One thing at a time, each different from the last”
A reoccurring thought directing Levy through his interdisciplinary practice, this statement is a reference to the movement he makes through each working process. Levy contrasts mediums in order to amplify the qualities inherent in each form, each activating the other in a body of work that relies upon juxtaposition. Photographs, paintings and sculpture are all ever more so distinguished thanks to the clarity brought about through comparison.
Levy firmly regards each work, regardless of medium, as an object. With each detail attended to until resolved, this completion of the work can be seen as keeping the calm. Nothing remains to be tampered with, nothing can be changed. Objectness draws the curtain, it closes the book.
“One thing at a time, each different from the last”
The underpinning mantra of Levy's production also ensures he abides by the silence and stillness that are imperative to his work. The impulse to collect, archive and restore is realised by reduction of content. Often working with found materials that are on the brink of obsolescence the artist strips them back, constantly removing and redacting information. A rooted desire for quiet and calm, Levy aims to reduce the work down to it’s very core - leaving only what is absolutely vital.
Alastair Levy (b. 1979, London) studied at the Royal College of Art, London. In 2015 he was granted the Oppenheim-John Downes Memorial Trust Award. Recent shows include OUTPOST Members' Show, OUTPOST, Norwich, UK (2017); Exeter Contemporary Open, Exeter Phoenix, Exeter, UK (2017); Alastair Levy, Three Works, Weymouth, UK (2017) [solo] and Edit/Undo, Space In Between, London, UK (2015) [curated].