Chris Levine

Chris Levine

Chris Levine (born 1960) is a UK-based artist, working in the field of light art. Chris Levine is a light artist with a multi-disciplinary approach that harnesses a diverse array of technology with the intention of revealing the ways in which light is fundamental to human experience. Levine uses cross-fertilization across many fields including music, performance, installation, fashion and design in a multitude of collaborative projects. He has worked with a wide range of collaborators, including Antony and the Johnsons, Philip Treacy, Massive Attack, Grace Jones, Asprey Jewellers, Mario Testino and has an ongoing relationship with The Eden Project. Levine is driven by a deep-rooted desire to expand perception and guide the viewer to a meditative engagement with the present moment. His portraits are internationally recognised but he is not a portrait artist in the traditional sense. Levine is known for creating the Lightness of Being and Equanimity, both portraits of Queen Elizabeth II. Equanimity was commissioned by the Jersey Heritage Trust in 2004 and on 1 June 2012, a £100 note was issued to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II based on the portrait. At the heart of Levine's practice are his immersive light Installation art projects in which he has endeavoured to take art out of the gallery environment into a real world, mass participatory experience. Levine has five separate works in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery.In 2019 Chris Levine's portrait 'Banksy [3D]' sold for almost ten times the estimate at Sotheby's MIB auction.According to the Artnet Price Database, Levine's record at auction is £187,500 ($234,023), achieved for another print of Lightness of Being, sold at Sotheby's London in 2017.