Renée Levi
Opening reception 23.05.2019
H18:30
Introduction
Biography
Performance
Images
Opening reception 23.05.2019
H18:30
Istituto Svizzero is pleased to present “Allora”, first solo presentation in Milan by artist Renée Levi.
Renée Levi is an internationally renowned artist from Basel who works in abstract painting, drawing and installation. Trained as an architect starting from the 1980s, teacher at the Basel School of Fine Arts since 2001, she has been developing a work that focuses on the perception of space using colours that are often very bright or even fluorescent.
In the 2015 text, “The Sext Life of Painting”, John Kelsey contextualises painting as a form of ‘refreshment’. Kelsey describes the experience of viewing painting within the framework of an information and image saturated age, drawing comparison to the constant feed of information one experiences through vehicles like social media. Levi’s works affirm the ongoing vitality of the medium of painting in the midst of a digital world. They refresh the space in an iterative way and remind us that painting is pleasant and present.
The exhibition’s title evokes the idea of an action, of the role of a painter in the eyes of Levi. It’s the beginning of a fast activity, a poetic commentary. Allora is a way to break through lethargy, a reawakening by filling the empty spaces.
Space is seen from different perspectives, as a material—secretly active—in which signs are both indicators of art works and, more importantly, art works themselves: an intertwining of space and art. Space is where she comes from, a historical subjectivated entity to get her bearings in.
On the same night please join us for Enrico Boccioletti’s performance « Softest Hard« .
Renée Levi (b. 1960 in Istanbul, lives in Basel) is a Swiss artist who studied architecture and fine art in Basel and Zurich. She has been professor of painting at the Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst in Basel since 2001. Her works have been exhibited around the globe for more than twenty years. The artist was awarded the Société des Arts de Genève prize for art (2019). Since the late 1990s she has examined the limits of painting, expanding her explorations in three-dimensional installations and interventions. This leads to surprising dialogues between architecture and her artwork in these three-dimensional works. Form and color take on immense dimensions, without losing any of their fragility.
Upcoming selected exhibitions include: Prix Société des Arts de Genève, Salle Crosnier Genève (2019); Biennale de Lyon (2019); Museum Langmatt, Baden (2019).
Recent selected solo exhibitions include Marcelle Alix, Paris (2019); Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau (2019); #7 clous à Marseille chez Patrick Raynaud, Marseille (2018); Ackermannshof, Basel (2017); Museum Langmatt, Baden (2016); La Conque, Théâtre de plein Air, Nanterre (2015); Kloster Schönthal, Langenbruck (2013); Frac Bretagne, Rennes (2013); le Crédac, Ivry (2011); Jüdisches Museum der Schweiz, Basel (2010); Kunsthalle Palazzo, Liestal (with Karen Geyer) (2010); Kunstmuseum Thun (2008); House of Art, České Budějovice (2008).
Recent selected group exhibitions include: Le Manoir de la Ville de Martigny (2019); Kunsthalle Palazzo, Liestal (2018); Hidden Bar Art Basel (2018); Le Commun, Genève (2018); Alpina Huus, le Commun Genève (2017); Kunstverein München (with Gintaras Didžiapetris and Rosalind Nashashibi) (2015); Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken (2015); MAMCO Musée d’art moderne et contemporain, Geneva (2015); Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken (2014); Villa du Parc – Centre d’art contemporain, Annemasse (2014); Hecht an der Grenze, Gottlieben (2014); Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt (2013); Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich (2013); L’Art dans les Chapelles, Noyal-Pontivy (2012); Surb und Tal, Endingen AG (2012); Kunsthaus Baselland, Muttenz (2010); Le Magasin, Grenoble (2009); Kunsthaus Baselland, Muttenz (2009).