Patti Levey

b. 1959, American
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Taking Liberty
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Patti Levey Bio

Chronology
1959	Born, New York, New York

1980	I took my first course in Photography at The International Center For Photography in New York City.

1981	During my second Photography class, at Sarah Lawrence College, I was given an assignment to do a self-portrait. I've been photographing myself ever since.

1982	I stumbled upon an exhibit of Frida Kahlo's paintings and Tina Modotti's Photographs at the Grey Art Gallery on the NYU campus.

1983	I moved To San Francisco, California where I lived for the next twelve years.

1991	I received a small grant which enabled me to stay at an artist's retreat in Northern New Mexico for five weeks.

1994	I became ill from being exposed to Photographic chemistry for so many years and was forced to abandon my darkroom and stop photographing for seven years.

1995	I moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico where I have lived ever since.

1999	I began to photograph myself again in abandonned buildings in and near Santa Fe.

2001	On September 11th the World Trade Center was destroyed and the USA began it's "War on Terrorism" in Afghanistan and later in Iraq.

2002	I began making images that reflected my beliefs and feelings about US political policy.

2004	I began "Mementomori" , a series of female nudes, (not self-portraits), in which the human form merges, eerily, with objects from nature. These photographs reflect my own grief over War, Global Warming and Mass Extinction.

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Awards
1991	Elsa Gidlow Grant for Women Artists & Writers, San Francisco, CA

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Solo Exhibitions
2005	Ghosts of Humanity, Zino Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM

2004	Recollections, The Teahouse, Santa Fe, NM

2004	Patti Levey, SOKE Fine Art, Minturn, CO

2002	Taking Liberty, Aztec Cafe, Santa Fe, NM

2001	Retrospective, Bar B, Santa Fe, NM

2000	New Works, Cynco Sources, Santa Fe, NM

1994	The Awakening, Moon to Moon Gallery, Taos, NM

1993	The Awakening, 494 Gallery, New York City, NY

1992	New Works, San Francisco Open Studios, San Francisco, CA

1988	Patti Levey, Fobbo Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1985	Rituals of Myself, Antioch University, San Francisco, CA

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Group Exhibitions
2006	Visions of Santa Fe, Phil Space, Santa Fe, NM

2005	Online/Onsite, Photo Eye Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

2004	No Freedom, No Justice, Phil Space, Santa Fe, NM

2004	Transformations, Ernesto Mayans Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

2004	Election/Selection, Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM

2003	Light Images: New Mexico Photographers, State Capital Building, Rotunda Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

2003	War & Peace, Manitou Galleries, Santa Fe, NM

2003	Peace is Patriotic, Art & Industry, Santa Fe, NM

2002	Photography Invitational, Wiford $ Vogt, Santa Fe, NM

2000	Scholarship Recipients, The Darkroom, Santa Fe, NM

1999	Out West, Plan B, Santa Fe, NM

1996	Death & Transformation, Guadalupe Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

1996	Erotica, Copeland Rutherford Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

1994	Lesbian Voices in the Arts, The Cork Gallery, New York City, NY

1993	Blood & Darkness, Galerie Spectrum, San Francisco, CA

1992	500 Years of Resistance Through Women's eyes, Galeria Museo, San Francisco, CA

1991	The Crucifiction Through the Modern Eye, Hearst Gallery, St Mary's College, Moraga, CA

1991	Self-Portraits of Women in the 80's, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan

1989	Art for Healing, Winona Gallery, Mendocino, CA

1988	Bearing Witness: Artists Respond to Aids, Mobius Gallery, Boston, MA

1987	Juried Exhibition, San Francisco Women Artist's Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1987	Juried Exhibiton, Antioch University, Seattle, WA

1982	Fantasy Sequences, SoHo Photo Gallery, New York City, NY

1982	Portraits of Paris, Parson's School of Design, New York City, NY

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Collections

Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan

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Bibliography

Focus Magazine. Patti Levey. David Spivak, New York, NY, 2006

THE Magazine. Patti Levey. Guy Cross, Santa Fe, NM, 2005

Visions Of Santa Fe. Patti Levey. Squarebooks Publishing, Santa Rosa, CA, 2005 (photo-eye Cat# ZC639)

Shots Magazine. Patti Levey. Russell Joslin, Minneapolis, MN, 2003

Photographer's Forum. Patti Levey. Glen R. Serbin, Santa Barbara, CA, 2003

THE Magazine. Patti Levey. Guy Cross, Santa Fe, NM, 2002

The Politics Behind The Nude. Michiko Kasahara, Cover Photo & Insert. Chikuma Shobo, Tokyo, Japan, 1998

San Francisco Nude. Hisaka Kojima. Seibundo Shinkosha Publishers, Tokyo, Japan, 1995 (photo-eye Cat# NI036)

Forbidden Subjects: Self-Portraits by Lesbian Artist's. Caffyn Kelley. Galerie Publications, Vancouver, B.C., 1992

She Who Was Lost is Remembered. Loise Wisechild. Seal Press, Seattle,WA, 1991

Versus Art Magazine. Patti Levey. Marina Racine, San Francisco, CA, 1988

Calyx Art & Literature Magazine. Patti Levey, Cover Photo & Insert. Calyx group, Corvallis, OR, 1987

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Education
1980 - 1982	Sarah Lawrence College, B.A. Liberal Arts

1981	Parsons School of Design, Studied Photography in Paris

1985 - 1987	Antioch University, M.A. Clinical Psychology

1987	Phototherapy Institute, Studied Phototherapy

Favorite Photography Books

Putting Myself in the Picture, Jo Spence

Francesca Woodman, Scalo Press

Images of the Spirit, Graciela Iturbide, (photo-eye Cat# AP347)

Inner Light, Flor Garduno, (photo-eye Cat# BF185)

Patti Levey Statement

Artist Statement
Portfolio #1:

The Awakening is a series of self-portraits shot in New Mexico over the past ten years. As the body is the container of the soul, buildings are containers of energy and light. The juxtaposition of my human flesh against these crumbling forms and textures to me represents life, death, and rebirth.

Each building is a wilderness of decay created by a collaboration between human beings and nature. Here the inside and outside have merged. I find it all to be extremely beautiful.

I am intrigued and fascinated by what is forgotten, abandoned, discarded. I revel in what endures. This idea is best articulated by the Buddhist idea of impermanence. Everything changes, ages, sickens, dies and is reborn, recycled. This worldview is especially pertinent in a culture that denies and detests death and decay. To hold death at arms length is to appreciate the fragility of life.

For me, making self-portraits is both a political statement as well as a spiritual practice. I believe that it is as radical for a woman to photograph herself as it is for her to love herself in any society that values women primarily as objects. I also believe that Art is a bridge between worlds, inner and outer, physical and spiritual. In this sense I hope that my work contains evidence of this fleeting state of grace, this bridge, that connects us to ourselves, each other and all things.

Portfolio #2:

"Taking Liberty" was inspired by a post 9/11 period of self-reflection. It is not a statement about war or religion but an open-ended question addressing issues of personal freedom and identity.

The burqa is the most conservative form of veil worn by Muslim women. When worn by choice it is a symbol of religious devotion and personal honor. The burqa, as a garment, limits the wearer's ability to walk and move freely as well as her ability to see; the cloth mesh obscures focus and eliminates peripheral vision. The burqa renders the wearer completely anonyomous. It covers not only the body, but the face, thus concealing individual identity, facial expression and emotion. I have been photographing myself, mostly in the nude, for more than twenty years. I have to ask myself whether my method of self-expression is a choice or a compulsion. Am I revealing myself or hiding behind an image of myself as an object? Who am I beneath the veil of personal freedom?

The American flag is a symbol of independence and freedom for Americans. Post 9/11, the American flag has become a symbol of patriotism in support of the "War Against Terrorism". I chose to wrap myself in the flag because I feel uncomfortably unpatriotic and un-independent. The veil of freedom is an illusion because as individual citizens or as a nation we are all dependent on each other. What is true liberty but a tolerance for differences amongst people, a recognition of our similarities and a sense of compassion for "the enemy", especially when the enemy is ourselves?

The United States government refers to civilian casualties in Iraq as "Collateral Damage". Statistics show that 50%of the population of Iraq is under the age of eighteen and that 25% of all children in Iraq are malnourished. The photographs in "Collateral Damage" depict who the real victims of war are: women and children.

Process Statement
I have been using self-portrait Photography as an Art form as well as a means to self-examination, empowerment and healing for more than twenty years.

Making self-portraits is a spontaneous, intuitive and somewhat mysterious process for me. Since I do not see myself through the camera lens, photographing myself is an act of faith. Working blindly, as I do, makes photographing as much a kinesthetic as a visual process; I feel where I am in the frame. I use a 2 1/4 format camera, a tripod and a cable release. I sometimes include the cable release in my photographs as evidence that I am photographing myself and because it is a metaphoric lifeline to the camera and therefore the viewer.

The multiple exposure images were created in the camera, on the negative, not in the darkroom.

Patti Levey Books
Available from photo-eye

Featured in:

Visions Of Santa Fe. Patti Levey. Squarebooks Publishing, Santa Rosa, CA, 2005 (photo-eye Cat# ZC639)

San Francisco Nude. Hisaka Kojima. Seibundo Shinkosha Publishers, Tokyo, Japan, 1995 (photo-eye Cat# NI036)

Favorite Monographs:

Images of the Spirit, Graciela Iturbide, (photo-eye Cat# AP347)

Inner Light, Flor Garduno, (photo-eye Cat# BF185)