Spencer Chalk-Levy : Where the Heavens Meet the Earth
The exhibition
The Art Absolument gallery is presenting Spencer Chalk-Levy (b. 1986) for the first time in France. A New York-based artist, he trained in both Manhattan and Vienna, where he currently lives and works. His work unfolds a theatrical and incisive world, imbued with sharp irony. It was notably at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that he refined his vision, through his engagement with European sculpture and the decorative arts. He is also interested in the German avant-garde movements (Jugendstil, Die Brücke, New Objectivity), as well as history painting, ancient mythology, Baroque decor, and modern cabarets, all of which constitute a rich, non-hierarchical visual repertoire.
Starting with drawing, he develops compositions that take the form of paintings and tapestries. Populated by exuberant and expressive figures, his works draw on contemporary visual culture, the queer scene, and the nightlife, and reflect a constant attention to beauty. His warm palette, punctuated by luminous contrasts, underscores the theatricality of social relationships, where everyone is both actor and spectator. As Judith Prigent writes: “Hundreds of eyes and faces intertwine, bodies melting into the canvas.”
Tapestry plays a central role in his practice. He reinterprets its conventions by using digital printing, then adds manual touches by sewing on beads and sequins, creating effects of texture and shimmer. This penchant for excess extends to the creation of crafted objects with rococo accents.
Behind this opulence, a more intimate dimension emerges in a series of small-scale works linked to a difficult period in his life. They function as fleeting visions blending lived experiences and staged scenes, perceived through the tears and fog of mourning. With “Where the Heavens Meet the Earth,” Spencer Chalk-Levy crafts a world of pretense, lucidly exploring both its depth and its artifice. Between the sacred and the profane, fantasy and reality, his painting reveals the mechanisms of fascination he employs, transforming the viewer into a witness to a flamboyant spectacle.
Starting with drawing, he develops compositions that take the form of paintings and tapestries. Populated by exuberant and expressive figures, his works draw on contemporary visual culture, the queer scene, and the nightlife, and reflect a constant attention to beauty. His warm palette, punctuated by luminous contrasts, underscores the theatricality of social relationships, where everyone is both actor and spectator. As Judith Prigent writes: “Hundreds of eyes and faces intertwine, bodies melting into the canvas.”
Tapestry plays a central role in his practice. He reinterprets its conventions by using digital printing, then adds manual touches by sewing on beads and sequins, creating effects of texture and shimmer. This penchant for excess extends to the creation of crafted objects with rococo accents.
Behind this opulence, a more intimate dimension emerges in a series of small-scale works linked to a difficult period in his life. They function as fleeting visions blending lived experiences and staged scenes, perceived through the tears and fog of mourning. With “Where the Heavens Meet the Earth,” Spencer Chalk-Levy crafts a world of pretense, lucidly exploring both its depth and its artifice. Between the sacred and the profane, fantasy and reality, his painting reveals the mechanisms of fascination he employs, transforming the viewer into a witness to a flamboyant spectacle.
When
30/04/2026 - 10/06/2026