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Double taste of royal artworks
By Louise Jury, Evening Standard 13.03.08
Royal intimacy: Chris Levine with one of many images of the Queen he made during two sittings, which are now going on display
A passenger pigeon and turkey oak by artist Mark Catesby
A magnolia bull bay by artist Mark Catesby
An ivory-billed woodpecker and willow oak by artist Mark Catesby
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The artist who created a hologram of the Queen is showing new works based on thousands of images from the sittings.
Chris Levine's work was made three years ago for the Jersey Heritage Trust to mark 800 years of the island's allegiance to the Crown.
Now he has produced a series of portraits of the Queen - some holograms and others using Laserpod, a system he patented in which lasers are shot through crystals.
Levine, 47, from Oxfordshire, said: "As a modern image-maker, I was asked to make a modern image of the Queen.
"I had two sittings with Her Majesty and two private audiences to show her the work in progress, and ended up with several thousand images.
"I found myself sitting on so much material. There were images of her in her quietest moments, of the back of the Queen's head... there's a level of intimacy that I think this medium facilitates. It does make for quite an unusual exhibition."
He added: "She has a good heart and I am grateful for the trust and support she gave me in producing the work."
Meanwhile, the Queen's own art collection has been scoured by Sir David Attenborough for another new exhibition.
The broadcaster has helped choose dozens of natural history drawings and paintings from thousands in the Royal Library for display in the Queen's Gallery, next to Buckingham Palace.
They include many of Leonardo da Vinci's drawings relating to his anatomical investigations of animals through dissection, and some of his plant studies, including the earliest known example in Italy of a type of grass known as Job's tears.
The other artists are: Cassiano dal Pozzo (1588-1657), an Italian antiquarian; Alexander Marshal (c1620-82), an English gardener; Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), a flower painter and teacher in Frankfurt and Amsterdam; and Mark Catesby (1682-1749), a self-taught artist from Suffolk.
Like da Vinci, dal Pozzo was fascinated by empirical scientific investigation and belonged to Europe's first modern scientific academy, the Accademia dei Lincei. His palazzo in Rome included a zoo and laboratory.
Mark Catesby produced a comprehensive survey of flora and fauna on the east coast of America.
Sir David said the works showed "very different kinds of curiosity" but all with an affection for their subject.
• Chris Levine: Lightness of Being is at StolenSpace Gallery, The Old Truman Brewery, from tomorrow to 23 March (£1 entry).
• Amazing Rare Things: The Art Of Natural History In The Age Of Discovery runs until 28 September.
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