Chris Levine, Inner [Deep] Space

This October sees the launch of Inner [Deep] Space, a series of experiential light and sound works by celebrated multidisciplinary artist, Chris Levine. The exhibition at Park Village Studios will be Levine’s largest solo exhibition to date and the first time the artist has independently curated an exhibition since leaving the Fine Art Society where he was represented for several years. 

The upcoming exhibition at Park Village Studios, one of Regent Park’s most historic venues, just minutes’ walk from the entrance to Frieze Masters, will present some twenty works, spanning installation, light and print. The show will be centred around the title piece, Inner [Deep] Space, a large-scale installation that will immerse the audience as they enter the show space. Chris Levine aims to transport visitors into a meditative realm through super sensory light fields and laser projection, alongside his distinctive three-dimensional portraiture and laser-etched works on paper. 

Sound plays a vital role in Chris Levine’s practice. Inner [Deep] Space sees Chris continue his work with Sacred Acoustics [sacredacoustics.com], the US-based audio laboratory working with sound in the field of meditation and personal development. Modern science is acknowledging the healing power of sound and the use of specific audio frequencies to restore natural balance in the mind and body system. In this new installation audio will be unified with laser, the specific source of light used in Levine’s work, which is of a purity not experienced in day-to-day perception. The proprietary optics are made from deep space material and have been chosen for this work through a process of and ongoing development work into the properties of laser light. The central element to the installation is an electro-plated meteorite, from inner (deep) space itself. 

Known for his signature three-dimensional portraits of the world’s most recognisable faces, the exhibition will also include previously unseen three-dimensional light portraits of Kate Moss [She’s Light] and Naomi Campbell [Transcendence]. These pieces synthesise art and technology to explore the technical and subliminal properties of light in the capturing of portraiture. Previous portraits have included Her Majesty the Queen, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Grace Jones, all of these works have been praised for the sense of calm and stillness that they permeate. 

“In modern life we are bombarded with all manner of information and sensory input and we become overloaded; we get sick, tired and numb. Meditation is the key to refuge from the crazy world we live in as we restore balance and become liberated from fear and anxiety. In my work, I’m looking to take people, even momentarily, into a fast-track meditative space, which can be healing and transformative” 

Chris Levine, 2018. 

Chris Levine is informed by his lifetime of research and study in philosophy, astronomy, science and spirituality, which feeds into every part of his work. In tandem to this, Levine uses meditation as the basis of his practice, a limitless inspirational resource, from the developmental stages of his work to the distillation process as a work is brought to completion. 

Inner [Deep] Space explores Levine’s ongoing study of the geometry that exists within everything and marks the patterns by which creation unfolds. Taking inspiration from historic astronomical drawings and natural pattern, to the earths lay lines and scans of the brain during meditation, every part of the artist’s work is about connectivity, consciousness and divine cosmic awareness. 

The exhibition follows a recent acquisition by the V&A Museum of Chris Levine portraits of Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, which will go on display in the new Photography Centre in 2019. To mark the occasion Levine will be in conversation with curator Susanna Brown for a discussion of his approach, inspiration, and cross-media collaborations in The Lydia & Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre at the institution on 19 October 2018.