Dorit Levinstein: the Language of Color

Bright, colorful, and full of life her sculptures are the embodiment of her own being. Dorit’s artistic narrative is committed to vibrancy and synergy of color. The very essence of her life is about embracing her unique form of creative expression through her exquisite figures and rhythmic patterns. 

Dorit Levinstein has created her own unique language drawing on both painting and sculpture. With degrees in graphic design and illustration from leading institutions in this field, Dorit went on to study classical painting and sculpture. She excelled in this field, winning awards for excellence and teaching her skills worldwide. However, although she excelled, Dorit always felt as though the constraints of the more classical art forms to be restricting her natural creative intuition. Therefore, at the age of 32, Dorit embarked on a mission to pursue greater initiative in her work. 

Dorit’s love of sculpture grew and developed over time, marking periods where her mediums and inspirations evolved. Now with a clearly defined signature style, her artworks are recognized and adored by her ever-growing fanbase and art lovers worldwide. Her sculptures grace galleries, museums, homes, and outdoor spaces globally in both private and public collections. She invites you to step into her world and enjoy the magic of her ‘Monumental Collection.’

Love

As a lifelong lover of the form-content interplay, Dorit naturally inclined towards the typographic art form. Through typography, she can examine, communicate, illuminate, disseminate, and celebrate. One of her most celebrated sculptures is  ‘LOVE.’ 

“My quest for visual elegance comes alive in those typographic sculptures.”

Love is a singular word that encompasses innumerable states of emotions. It can be a form of kindness or compassion, it can be intimacy and commitment. There is no universal definition, but what is constant is that every person has a connection to the complex and abstract nature of this extraordinary word. Dorit was searching for a form in which a word, such as love, can become an art. Through her characteristic style, she has created the perfect configuration to communicate indicative words. She believes that when you can see it and feel it in a three-dimensional sculpture, then ‘love’ truly becomes intensive and passionate. 

LOVE – Monumental stands over a meter high, and demands the attention of the viewer no matter what space it holds. Having been displayed at the cosmopolitan Hotel Athenee in Paris, Hotel de Paris in St. Tropez, and the private collections of affluent collectors, LOVE – Monumental has made its way into the hearts of many. 

Parallel to her personal artistic journey, where she shed her old self and embraced a new sense of creative expression, her sculptures shed their old forms of simple aluminum or bronze to take on a new life with childlike qualities exuding happiness and in turn influencing the spaces that they inhabit. 

Renoir Dancers

Art is what Dorit lives for, and although her style is not defined as classic, she regularly draws on inspiration from classic painters. In this piece, the colors and patterns mirror the warm embrace of her subjects, swaying slowly to their favorite tune. The Pierre-August Renoir painting that inspired this piece was of two friends of his dancing in the village of Bougival, a short way from Paris. Dorit’s interpretation captures the movement of the two dancers, the billowing skirt of Suzanne, and the jubilation of the original painting. 

This monumental sculpture has been commissioned by both private collectors and hotels. Each one of them bringing to the spaces they inhabit a sense of lightness, sensuality, and joy. 

Icons

Dorit believes that consumerist culture has led us to consume our idols in the same way that we use products such as bottled water or chewing gum. We are addicted to the drama, drinking it in every way we can, via social media platform or biographies we want to devour all that we can of the lives, and gossip surrounding our modern-day icons. 

Dorit believes that consumerist culture has led us to consume our idols in the same way that we use products such as bottled water or chewing gum. We are addicted to the drama, drinking it in every way we can, via social media platform or biographies we want to devour all that we can of the lives, and gossip surrounding our modern-day icons. 

“I look at them with a naked eye, free of any preconceived judgemental value. I am fascinated by the gap between their images and their real-life stories.”

Dorit believes that consumerist culture has led us to consume our idols in the same way that we use products such as bottled water or chewing gum. We are addicted to the drama, drinking it in every way we can, via social media platform or biographies we want to devour all that we can of the lives, and gossip surrounding our modern-day icons. 

The iconic face of the era of silent cinema, Charlie Chaplin, has been canonized through his own filmography as well as innumerable artistic references throughout the last century. Dorit’s sculptural interpretation of this highly recognizable celebrity shows undeniable genius. Dorit takes a free-flowing abstract line, twisting and moving through space, and creates from that the likeness of a face, not missing any detail that would help the viewer to immediately identify the subject. This monumental Charlie Chaplin is positioned in a clients home in Paris overlooking the Eiffel tower. The city of the first film he independently produced, it feels as though this location was made for a sculptural rendition of this icon.

La Cumparsita

La Cumparsita was composed in 1917 by Uruguayan pianist Gerardo Matos Rodríguez. This sexy, sensual dance was, and still is, one of the most romantic dances ever choreographed. This dance lends itself well to artistic interpretations such as Dorit’s. Her sculpture is a moment caught in time, bringing color and romance to the spaces that they inhabit. 

“The first step is me drowning in space, and it is only the initial stage of the whole sculpting process.” 

Matisse Dancers

Looking at the original painting, you can see five female characters, naked, ecstatically dancing in a circle. The original painting naturally draws the viewer to the connection between the characters and the friendship they share. A value that many hold very dear to their hearts and one that Dorit believes it holds the key to true happiness.

In Matisse’s painting, the figures are flat and schematic, bordered by contour lines and contrasting the cold blue-green space surrounding them. The painting reflects Matisse’s attraction to primitive art in nature. The closed circle sends a message of emotional hedonism, a metaphorical image of the liberation of the body and soul from cultural and social conventions. Dorit stays true to the context of the original artwork while bringing new life and with it a new meaning to the work. Her reinterpretation inspires a new excitement around a work the audience is already acquainted with. 

Cactus

Although a cactus is made up of thorns, it still manages to grow flowers…

The cactus is a plant that symbolizes warmth, protection, and endurance. When a cactus flowers, it is an awe-inspiring moment. The flower can thrive in harsh desert conditions. Its endurance in the face of adversity is relatable to many audiences.

Dorit looked upon a cactus and from this simple plant came the influence for an entire collection of twisting shapes inspired by the plant. Some people believe the desert to be dry and barren, but if you spend only a few minutes, you will find many of the hidden treasures and fantastical animals that thrive in what we believe to be harsh conditions. Dorit’s cactus sculptures are forever evolving, uncovering new artistic questions that serve as a catalyst for further experimentation with shape and color. 

“I love how my sculptures seem to giggle with delight. I enjoy painting in vivid colors, creating rhythmic patterns that regularly repeat themselves like variations on well-loved tunes.”

Le Chevalier

While his character in this painting is portrayed as a noble, strong gentleman riding a horse, the emperor’s figure, in fact, is not very masculine; The horse is what makes him seem strong and noble. Unlike Van Dyck, Dorit’s rider is faceless, with no identity but it does not reduce the strong impression of the rider’s nobility, created by the presence of the horse.

Here Dorit’s monumental ‘Le Chevalier’ has joined an extensive private collection of an affluent collector living in Frankfurt, Germany. The vast collection spans across his sculpture garden, each arranged with precision and care so that they fit their surroundings and properly lit up at nighttime to highlight the colors and cast wonderfully interlaced shadows across the grass.

Anything but dull, Dorit’s sculptures are comprised of dancing linework and playful patterns, true to the artist herself. “Freedom and playfulness are two of my guiding themes,” says Dorit about how she is continually reexamining her sculptural language. Her monumental outdoor sculptures grace many landscapes, both urban and natural. They enhance every location they decorate, the perfect synthesis of art and space.

Your truth and your beauty comes from within, as is also the case with bright and colorful art.

View Dorit Levinsteins full body of work here.