Featured Projects
Riva Leviten: artist
c23 helps introduce the artwork of a remarkable woman to a wider audience.
Her work skirts pop art and dadaism, resulting in mesmerizing collages whose kinetic energy went undiminished by her eventual slip into the chaos of Alzheimer’s Desease.
When Walker Percy was first presented with John Kennedy Toole’s original manuscript for A Confederacy of Dunces by his ailing mother, he promptly buried it in a drawer where it languished for years. I was inclined to a similar reaction when Riva’s daughter, Priscilla Warner, approached us to create a site showcasing her mother’s artwork. Luckily I also recalled the eventual outcome of Mr. Percy’s auspicious meeting, so I figured I’d give Mrs. Warner a fair hearing.
c23 is privileged to present Riva Leviten’s amazing artwork to a broader audience. The site’s conceptual theme (chaos from order, order from chaos) makes a nod to the process of Riva’s art-making and to the cruel degeneration of a sound mind as it succumbs to Alzheimer’s Disease. In addition to presenting Riva’s life and art, the site encourages visitors to share their Alzheimer’s experiences and helps to promote Priscilla’s new book in progress: a memoir of her mother’s life. Priscilla Warner is also coauthor of The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew—Three Women Search for Understanding.
