PRESS RELEASE
'LIGHT' by Chris Levine - The 2010 Genesis Foundation Commission

L I G H T
By Chris Levine (with Harry Christophers & The Sixteen)
Opens 1st June, 2010
ONE MARYLEBONE, 1 Marylebone Road, NW1 4AQ

The Genesis Foundation has commissioned revered light artist Chris Levine to install a glass crucifix in the former Holy Trinity Church on Marylebone Road. Levine’s installation forms part of the Genesis Foundation’s two-day cultural event in the heart of London. The installation embodies light’s remarkable ability to restore equilibrium between the hearts and minds of the human race, and will be on show to the public at One Marylebone from 2nd June.

The foundation, set up by John Studzinski CBE in 2001, aims to help inspire young individuals in the fields of music, theatre, and the visual arts. It seeks to nurture and develop emerging talents until they reach a point of sustainability. Artists are either selected directly by the foundation or on the recommendation of established figures and institutions in the arts. Harry Christophers and his choir The Sixteen, which collaborates with the Genesis Foundation, will accompany Levine's work at the launch to invited guests on 1 June.  The choir will be performing Genesis Foundation commissioned compositions by award-winning British composer, Will Todd.

Studzinski and Levine want this to be an enjoyable and enriching experience during which individuals can take time to reflect. Levine believes that we are currently encountering a significant stage in the evolution of our civilisation, in that the world we live in is evolving at a quicker rate than the human mind. According to Levine, it is likely that the conflict and confusion that we are experiencing in the world is largely a result of our incapacity to deal with the sheer rate of sensory processing that is now required of us.

It has long been recognised that the art of meditation is key to re-establishing a balance between the needs of our hearts and the pull of our egos, in that this form of spiritual introspection actually gives us a much greater sense of reality. Levine, an artist with a highly developed sensibility for connecting with light, believes that “the use of light in the practice of meditation can profoundly help anyone who wishes to reach out.” Projecting a combination of high powered white light laser and hundreds of small diode lasers through crystals from within the cross, Levine’s piece will radiate light outwards, filling the installation space, and “literally touching the viewer with a deep sensory connection.”

“My work for Genesis is LIGHT. It is a meditation on the wonder of light and the miracle that is life.” – Chris Levine

Notes to Editors

Chris Levine
Chris Levine’s progressive light work for Massive Attack, Grace Jones and his iconic holographic portraits of HM Queen Elizabeth II have positioned him as a leading figure working within the developing area of light as an art form. Using media such as laser, optics, LED and natural light, Levine aims to inspire a sense of wonder in viewers, taking them to unexplored sensory and spiritual territory in the process. The technology he uses is a means to an end; his work is about the beauty of light and the way we see and feel imagery. His work has graced galleries, fashion shows, band tours, and advertisements. Levine explains that “light actually functions at octaves much higher and lower than the visible spectrum. Technology, through the use of the laser, has now given us the opportunity to study light in its purest form. This is the first time in our evolutionary process that this connection and awareness has been made possible.”

www.chrislevine.com