Silvia Levenson (born 1957, in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an Argentine contemporary artist and political

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

working in

glass Glass is a non-Crystallinity, crystalline, often transparency and translucency, transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most ...

. Originally a graphic artist in her native Argentina whose political work was in direct conflict with the dictatorship of

Jorge Rafael Videla Jorge Rafael Videla (; ; 2 August 1925 – 17 May 2013) was an Argentine military officer and dictator, Commander in Chief of the Army, member of the Military Junta, and ''de facto'' President of Argentina from 29 March 1976 to 29 March 1981. H ...

, she found herself and her young family immigrating to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in 1980. Glass soon became the new medium in which she could best express her feelings of exile, oppression and personal tragedy.

Biography

Silvia Levenson was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1957. Her mother was a dressmaker, her father was a social worker. Born into a time when political and social activism was encouraged, she began protesting on behalf of the Buenos Aires poor as early as 14. By the time she was 16 she was married and at the age of 19 she had her first child. She studied at Martin Garcia School of Graphic Design and after graduation worked in this field. It was during this time that the political climate in Argentina began to change with the military taking control of the government under

, the senior commander of the

Argentine Army The Argentine Army ( es, Ejército Argentino, EA) is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the command ...

. Between 1976 and 1984 more than 30,000 people disappeared and were later killed, including members of Levenson's own family. She and her family lived three years in hiding. In 1981 Levenson was warned that she was discovered. The family fled Argentina for Italy, where Levenson's husband had family. It was the tragic events of this time that ultimately influenced and continue to influence Levenson's artistic practice. In Italy, Levenson first worked in graphic design, but soon turned to painting. After seeing an exhibition of Swedish artist Bertil Vallien in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

in 1985, she became interested in glass as an artistic medium. Subsequently she participated in workshops on glass processing, e.g. "pâte de verre", a technique to work with multicolored glass, in

Sars-Poteries Sars-Poteries () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The communes cooperate ...

, France. Back in Italy, she opened a studio near Milan in 1990. Since 1995 Levenson's glass artworks are shown in exhibitions worldwide.

Collections

Silvia Levenson's works are held in the collections of Alexander-Tutsek-Stiftung,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, Bullseye Glass Company,

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, Fine Art Museum,

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

, Museo del Vetro,

Altare Altare ( lij, Artâ, pms, Latè, L’Atæ in local dialect) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about west of Genoa and about northwest of Savona. As of 1 January 2009, it had a popul ...

, Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes,

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. According to the , it has a population of 654,324 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 787,294 inhabitants. It is located 9 kilometers (6 miles) inland from ...

, and other international collections.

References

External links

Artist's website

Biography: Silvia Levenson
''Corning Museum of Glass.'' Corning Museum of Glass. Retrieved 10 March 2018. {{DEFAULTSORT:Levenson, Silvia 1957 births Living people 20th-century Argentine women artists 21st-century Argentine women artists Artists from Buenos Aires Glass artists Women glass artists Recipients of the Rakow Commission

Biography

Collections

Further reading

References

External links