Silvano Levy’s biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story

Silvano Levy is an academic and art critic specialising in surrealism. He has published on Belgian surrealism with studies on René Magritte, E.L.T. Mesens and Paul Nougé. His research on The Surrealist Group in England began with a film on Conroy Maddox and the book Conroy Maddox: Surreal Enigmas (1995), while a wider interest in the movement led to the publication of Surrealism: Surrealist Visuality (1997) and Surrealism (2000). Levy has curated national touring exhibitions of the work of Maddox and Desmond Morris, and has published a monograph on the latter entitled Desmond Morris: 50 Years of Surrealism (1997), which was followed by the enlarged re-edition Desmond Morris: Naked Surrealism (1999). Subsequent books on Morris include Lines of Thought: The Drawings of Desmond Morris (2008) and two volumes (2000 & 2012) of an analytical catalogue raisonné spanning eight decades. Silvano Levy’s monograph on Maddox, The Scandalous Eye. The Surrealism of Conroy Maddox, was published by Liverpool University Press in 2003 and further scholarly studies cover Sheila Legge, Toni del Renzio, André Breton, Dina Lenković, Jean-Martin Charcot and Birmingham surrealism. Dr Levy is editor of Surrealist Bulletin and has held academic posts at the University of Liverpool, Newcastle Polytechnic, the University of Bath, the University of Hull and Keele University, where he was promoted to Senior Lecturer in French in 1998 and then to Reader in 2005.

News

Decoding Magritte

• The first analysis that establishes the deep structure of Magritte’s work
• The first application of aphasia as a model to unlock to Magrittian ‘code’
• Previously unpublished interviews and photos – Georgette Magritte, Scutenaire, Hamoir, Mariën, Melly

In a groundbreaking analysis, Silvano Levy unravels the hidden structures of Magritte’s paintings. Decoding Magritte puts forward the theory that aphasia, the injury-induced inability to produce and comprehend language, is the elusive key to an underlying artistic mechanism. Magritte had often hinted that there was a covert rationale behind his production, but never gave explanations. Drawing on his conversations with the artist’s widow and key members of the Belgian surrealist group, Silvano Levy deciphers Magritte’s oeuvre in a meticulous study that rests on linguistics and structuralist theory. This investigation first probes Magritte’s early career within the avant-garde, Cubism and Dada, and then systematically sets out the artist s pictorial deconstruction of the pictorial schema. The inclusion of previously unavailable source material in the form of photographs and substantial interviews with Georgette Magritte, Louis Scutenaire, Irène Hamoir, Marcel Mariën and George Melly provides valuable primary resources, as well as shedding additional light on the ‘Magritte code’.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/decoding-magritte/silvano-levy/9781906593957

http://www.accdistribution.com/us/store/pv/9781906593957/decoding-magritte/silvano-levy

REVIEW: https://artbookreview.wordpress.com/2016/02/15/decoding-magritte-silvano-levy/

Sheila Legge: Phantom of Surrealism

Sheila Legge made the headlines in the hot summer of 1936 when she paraded in Trafalgar Square as the ‘Surrealist Phantom of Sex Appeal’. The public was perplexed by this elegantly dressed young woman whose head was completely shrouded in red roses. Since then, nothing more has been heard of her and she has remained a mystery for some eight decades. Silvano Levy’s painstaking research has now pieced together the main elements of Sheila’s life and involvement in surrealism. His study establishes the Phantom’s biographical chronology and lineage, as well as offering commentaries on texts and other traces she has left behind.

Review (Spanish): http://surrint.blogspot.co.uk/2015_05_01_archive.html

Papers

• 2016 ‘Magritte the Saboteur’, Waterstones, Piccadilly, London
• 2014 ‘Surrealism and the Street’, Barber Institute, University of Birmingham
• 2014 ‘Surrealism’, Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal
• 2012 ‘Biomorphism as Ethology’, Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada, Instituto Universitário, Lisbon
• 2012 ‘Lewis Carroll and British Surrealism’, Tate Liverpool
• 2011 ‘Magritte’s La Saveur des larmes’, Tate Liverpool
• 2011 ‘Magritte. Le Refus de l’authentique’, Le Centre Interdisciplinaire Récits Cultures Psychanalyse Langues et Sociétés (CIRCPLES) de l’Université de Nice
• 2010 ‘Surrealism: the Ultimate Defiance’, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
• 2010 ‘Surrealism’, National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies, Harrogate
• 2009 ‘Desmond Morris’, University of Cambridge
• 2009 ‘Surrealism in Britain’, University of Cambridge
• 2009 ‘Fleeting Phantom: Sheila Legge’, Across the Frontiers. International Surrealism, Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Cambridge
• 2009 ‘What is Surrealism?’, Leeds Art Gallery
• 2009 ‘Paul Nougé Constructing Absence’, French Institute, Edinburgh
• 2008 ‘Surrealism: Anger and Revolt’, University of Durham
• 2008 ‘Desmond Morris. Lines of Thought’, Williamson Art Gallery and Museum, Birkenhead
• 2008 ‘Reading Magritte’s La Saveur des larmes’, The Barber Institute, University of Birmingham
• 2006 ‘Body Language: Communication and Identity’, University of the Arts, Bremen
• 2005 ‘Magritte at the Edge of Codes’, Conception Reception, Annual Conference, The Association of Art Historians, University of Bristol
• 2003 ‘Conroy Maddox’, Chelsea Arts Club, London
• 2003 ‘Chasing Dreams: Freud and the Surrealists’, University of Manchester
• 2002 ‘La Lumière de l’inconscient’, Université catholique de l’Ouest, Angers
• 2002 ‘Surrealism’, City Art Gallery, Southampton
• 2001 ‘The Surrealism of Maddox and Morris’, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
• 2001 ‘Jean-Martin Charcot, a nineteenth-century influence’, Le surréalisme appartient-il au XXe siècle?, International Colloquium, St. Hugh’s College, Oxford
• 1998 ‘Psychoanalysis and the Surrealist Object’, Identities, Annual Conference, The Association of Art Historians, University of Exeter
• 1997 ‘Surrealism and Desmond Morris’, Charleston Literary Festival
• 1997 ‘Surrealism: an introduction’, Ledbury Poetry Festival
• 1997 ‘Desmond Morris and Surrealism’, Buxton Museum & Art Gallery
• 1997 ‘Edouard Mesens et la persistance du dadaïsme’, La Littérature et les arts en Belgique francophone, International colloquium, The Department of French, The University of Edinburgh
• 1997 ‘Sex and Surrealism’, Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester
• 1996 ‘René Magritte: The Space in Question’, Research Seminar, Keele University
• 1996 ‘The Unknown Desmond Morris’, City Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent
• 1996 ‘André Breton and the Belgian Connection’, André Breton: The Power of Language, International Surrealist Colloquium, University of Glasgow
• 1995 ‘Conroy Maddox: The Philosophy of a Surrealist’, Leeds City Art Gallery
• 1994 ‘Belgian Surrealist Theories of music’, University of Reading (with Barbara Kelly)
• 1993 ‘Paul Nougé and Surrealist Music’, Centre for Research in French Studies, University of Keele (with Barbara Kelly)
• 1993 Interview with Conroy Maddox, Surrealism: The Scene of the Crime, Eugène Vinaver International Colloquium University of Manchester
• 1993 ‘Dangerous Music: Belgian Theories of Musical Surrealism’, The Scene of the Crime, Eugène Vinaver International Colloquium, University of Manchester (with Barbara Kelly)
• 1993 ‘Belgian Surrealist Theories of Music’, University of Liverpool (with Barbara Kelly)
• 1992 Panellist at Dissecting the exquisite corpse: Surrealism in Words and Images, Symposium, Institute of Romance Studies, University of London
• 1989 ‘The Theories of Paul Nougé’, North-West, Universities’ Seminar in French, University of Liverpool
• 1988 ‘Aspects of the Belgian Approach to Surrealism’, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
• 1987 ‘Art Déco’, Newcastle Polytechnic
• 1987 ‘Jean Cocteau’, Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle upon Tyne
• 1987 ‘Surrealism on Film: The Movement and its Philosophy’, series of three lectures, Merseyside Film Institute, Liverpool
• 1985 ‘The Paris 1920 Style’, University of Liverpool
• 1985 ‘Jean Cocteau’, Merseyside Film Institute, Liverpool
• 1984 ‘The Language of Literary Criticism: Structuralism and the Narrative’, University College, Dublin
• 1984 ‘Dada and Surrealism’, Trinity College, Dublin
• 1984 ‘Paul Nougé’, University of Liverpool
• 1983 ‘Belgian Surrealism’, National College of Art and Design, Dublin
• 1983 ‘Language Loss: A Linguistic Approach’, Dublin Dyslexia Association
• 1983 ‘The Theory of Abstraction’, National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin
• 1982 ‘Aphasic Models’, University of Kent
• 1982 ‘Abstraction, Problems of Interpretation’, University of Kent
• 1982 ‘René Magritte’, Trinity College, Dublin

Media

• 2007 Live contributor Ronnie Barbour, BBC Three Counties Radio, 9 March 2007, 5.00–6.00 pm.
• 2007 Contributor Brief Lives, BBC Radio 5 Live, 18 February 2007, 6.00–6.30 am.
• 2006 Live contributor Breakfast, BBC Radio Stoke, 21 September 2006, 7.45–8.00 am.
• 2005 Contributor Front Row, BBC Radio 4, 14 January 2005, 7.15–7.45 pm.
• 2002 Live contributor The Late Show, BBC Radio Nottingham, 30 October 2002, 10.30–11.00 pm.
• 2002 Contributor Brugse Radio VBRO (Belgium) 106 FM, 25 March-3 April 2002
• 2002 Live contributor Morning Show, Saga Radio, 1 February 2002, 10.30 am.
• 2000 Live contributor Night Waves, BBC Radio 3, 8 December 2000, 10.00–10.30 pm.
• 2000 Contributor Front Row, BBC Radio 4, 4 December 2000, 7.15–7.45 pm.
• 1996 Contributor Answers Back: Desmond Morris, BBC Radio Scotland
• 1995 Director, author & narrator Conroy Maddox: Surreal Enigmas, 16 minutes
• 1995 Contributor Performance, BBC Radio Stoke
• 1991 Contributor Mind Your Own Business, BBC Radio Stoke
• 1987 Interpreting for live stage performance by Antonio Fava, Commedia dell’Arte
• 1986 Script translator Briefing: The Swiss Connection, Independent Television, 4 December 1986

Surrealist Bulletin

Surrealist Bulletin is a journal edited by Silvano Levy. Its pages throw the spotlight on the personal voice of individual surrealists or those directly related with surrealism. Free rein is given to statements, declarations, reminiscences, comments, confessions, attacks and defences in an egalitarian format comprising sixteen illustrated pages. The journal’s unusual format, regarded as annoying by some, was the brainchild of the author of the first issue, Toni del Renzio, who tenaciously insisted on making what was to be his final statement on narrow, vertical pages (narrow royal octavo). It is in his memory that his design has been retained for subsequent issues. Every edition of the journal is limited and numbered. A small number of copies are signed by the author. Despite being seriously ill at the time of publication, del Renzio was determined to sign his own issue. At his insistence, all copies of the journal were brought to his hospital bed, where he shakily signed as many as he could. He died shortly afterwards. It is for this reason that relatively few copies of Surrealist Bulletin No.1 ended up being signed.

Surrealist Bulletion no.1, Toni del Renzio

Surrealist Bulletion no.2, Desmond Morris

Surrealist Bulletion no.3, Patrick Hughes

Surrealist Bulletion no.4, Arturo Schwarz