“Myth, Memory & Image”
Phillip Levine is “leaving planet earth” - as he put it. I got to meet and photograph Phillip in his studio weeks before his final gallery showing, and exactly a month before his planned exit. Thank you Katelyn Norris for the kind words and opportunity.
Words by Katelyn Norris
SEATTLE ART GALLERY, KOPLIN DEL RIO, WAS HONORED TO PRESENT MYTH, MEMORY & IMAGE, AN EXHIBITION OF WORKS SPANNING THE NEARLY 70 YEAR CAREER OF NORTHWEST SCULPTOR AND DRAFTSMAN, PHILLIP LEVINE.
The exhibition, which included a range of sculpture, drawings, and paintings, serves to celebrate Levine’s lifelong study and masterful interpretation of human narrative centered around observation of the figure; the figure as icon, metaphor, symbol, and vehicle for connectedness.
Working primarily in bronze, with the human form as a foundation, Levine has explored motifs ranging from movement and dance - inspired early on by his years in art school, where he shared a space with dancers, to athleticism & sports, literature, social issues, and the figure/structure relationship. Through mastery of gesture (Phillip sketches daily), an ongoing exploration of balance and movement, and a radiant imagination, Levine manages in his work to capture and narrate a sense of aliveness, in all its irony, joys, struggle, and at times, utter levity, even when cast in bronze.
While Levine is relatively well known in the Pacific Northwest, and had enjoyed a stable life as an artist, his career perhaps didn't reach a height in line with the quality of his work and character, which we may assume is due to the limitations of Seattle as a city which is not widely acknowledged as an arts city. This brings up a lot of questions about place (considering how markets and economies around art determine a city's identity and cultural landscape - despite high concentration of wealth here, there are very few collectors). Overall, this is a true Northwest gentleman whose life has been committed to working with bronze and realizing his creative visions - and all the while doing so with serious compassion for and curiosity about humanity.
With more than 50 public and private commissions around the world, the majority of Levine’s iconic public works live in Western Washington - perhaps more than any other sculptor.
Phillip is "leaving planet Earth” - as he put it, on September 19, 2021, thus, the show overlapped with his last days. While mentally sharp, and vibrant as ever, Phillip had been dealing with serious physical ailments, and was grateful at the opportunity to depart on his own terms, with immense gratitude for a life rich in art, a beautiful and loving family, friendships and, having witnessed in his lifetime "an occasional step forward in issues of social inequity." - Phillip Levine (1931 - 2021)
