Christopher A. Levitt's Prison Art Exhibition at Blo Back Gallery

Christopher A. Levitt 

Self-taught, Michigan based artist, Christopher Levitt, works in graphite, colored pencil, and

acrylic paint. He began his practice in 2010 while serving a life sentence in Michigan

Department of Corrections (MDOC). From 2021-24, Levitt was featured in the University of

Michigan's Prison Creative Arts Project for incarcerated artists (PCAP). He received an

honorable mention in the 25th annual PCAP Art Exhibition in 2021. In 2023 Levitt's piece, “Hard

Rock”, won first place in Colorado State University Pueblo(CSUP) Black History Month

Student Art Show and in 2023 the sale of his artwork helped to raise money for CSUP’s

incarcerated students at the first annual CSUP Levitt Fund Scholarship art exhibit and

fundraiser. In addition to his work as an artist, Levitt is a mentor to other inmates who want to

learn how to paint. He also continues to work with CSUP to expand inmates access to art and art education through the Levitt fund scholarship.  

Artist Statement

As an incarcerated artist, I create art that exposes the injustices by the American Criminal

Justice system against those who populate its so-called correctional institutions. In this effort,

each of my paintings brings to light unique narratives that would otherwise remain unseen

behind the fences and concrete walls that conceal state propagated violence, rape, drug

trafficking and forced labor. In the creation of these paintings, I utilize a hybrid style that

emphasizes the real but abstract nature of the incarcerable experience to create images that

are confrontational, provocative, defiant and telling.  

To capture the raw emotion of these unique narratives, I ask my fellow incarcerated brothers,

trans sisters, and non-gender conforming comrades to tell me their stories as I paint. As they

speak, my hands go to work giving their words form through the manipulation of acrylic

paintings with brush, pallet knife and fingers. I depict them as solitary figures and use body

language and nonverbal signaling to give voice to their individual stories. I also invite them to

take part in the creative process. I encourage those I paint to pick up a brush, palette knife, or

finger in protest for their own right to freely express themselves creatively and to leave their

mark on my paintings. My goal here is to help them feel human in an inhuman place by

validating their feelings and experiences through creative expression.  

As an incarcerated artist, I also create art to help expand incarcerated persons’ access to art

and art education through such initiatives as The Levitt Fund. This is a scholarship created by

me in partnership with CSU Pueblo that helps provide a safe, encouraging space for

incarcerated students to find, exercise, and develop their creative selves. This scholarship is

available to incarcerated persons through CSU Pueblo’s Independent Studies. This scholarship is funded in part by proceeds raised through the sale of my art.

Why You Need to Experience This First Friday at Blo Back Gallery

This Friday at Blo Back Gallery, we are honored to open a powerful, unfiltered exhibition by Chris Levitt—an artist whose work doesn’t just hang on the wall, it demands your attention and confronts your comfort.

Levitt’s paintings are visceral, unapologetic bursts of emotion, each canvas a battleground between survival and surrender. His skeletal, fragmented figures speak to the human spirit under pressure—how we break apart and rebuild, forced to reconstruct ourselves in the face of trauma, memory, and the brutal reality of incarceration.

What makes this show even more impactful is Levitt’s story. As a self-taught artist creating from inside the walls of the Michigan prison system, his work is not only personal but a direct act of protest and survival. Each piece carries the weight of real stories told by fellow incarcerated individuals—stories of violence, loss, resilience, and hope—painted in real time as these conversations unfold.

Stylistically, Levitt’s art stands at the crossroads of neo-expressionism, street art, and raw emotional storytelling, with echoes of Basquiat and the underground visual language of prison murals. His palette vibrates with electric blues and fiery oranges, clashing with shadowed greens and ominous blacks—colors that pulse with emotional dissonance, like a scream you can see.

But this show isn’t just about the art on the walls. It’s about bearing witness. It’s about feeling uncomfortable and walking into that discomfort to connect with stories too often hidden behind concrete walls and razor wire.

Levitt’s work is not just here to be admired—it’s here to be felt, to shake you awake, and to remind you that art can still be dangerous, beautiful, and necessary all at once.

Be here Friday. See it for yourself.

First Friday, Pueblo, Colorado 6 to 9 PM

131 Spring St.

Pueblo, CO 81003