“SOUTH: from Saxapahaw to Antarctica,” Paintings by Nerys Levy
“Working on site using mixed water-based media on paper, I try to portray the forms and forces of nature: Polar landscapes and wildlife, Chinese and Russian rural and urban landscapes, North Carolina’s forests and rural landscapes, Alpine masses and glaciers, cloud formations, animals, European gardens and old architectural forms altered by time. I often do a series of works of the same subject in shifting light, seasons and weather. When painting animals, I usually document their movements in a series of works done on site and in their home environments. I visited the Antarctic Peninsula in December 2007 and in July 2009 worked in the Norwegian Arctic. As a result of these Polar experiences, I produced a large body of work on Polar animals and landscapes for the 2010 multimedia exhibition “Ice Counterpoint” at UNC’s Fed Ex Global Education Center and “Artico, Asolo Antartico” at the Asolo Civic Museum, Veneto, Italy in November 2010. In the Spring of 2013, some of these Polar works will be on exhibit at the National Humanities Center and in late 2013 at the Whatcomb Museum, Bellingham, WA, in their international exhibit “Vanishing Ice.” These exhibitions were and are intended to put a face on Earth’s endangered upper latitudes and to examine the implications of the ecological and climatic changes there for the rest of the planet.”
Born in Wales and now a resident of Carrboro, North Carolina, Nerys Levy is deeply rooted in her native country’s culture which has influenced her painting. Levy had a first career in race relations, community work and education, working in India, the Caribbean, South Africa and London. She has a PhD in Modern South Asian History from the University of London. Although she painted throughout much of her childhood, Levy began serious studies in 1980 in La Jolla, California, working with various members of the Visual Arts Department of the University of California at San Diego. She also studied at the Pacific Art League in Palo Alto, California. Many of her works are in private collections both in Europe and the United States. Nerys Levy is a member artist of FRANK Gallery, Chapel Hill. (www.frankisart.com)