Unveiled at the Fitzrovia Chapel on 24th January 19, a new portrait of Grayson Perry by photographer Richard Ansett, has been presented in a dramatic lightbox designed by Lite-House Europe and lit with Applelec’s LED Light Sheet.

Illuminating the secular, baroque chapel from its ‘impious’ placement on the altar, the portrait reworks the motif of mother and child. Conceived by renowned photographer Richard Ansett, it focuses on turner prize winning artist Grayson Perry’s alter ego, Claire.

Light is used in ‘Birth’ both to draw the viewer’s immediate attention to the portrait upon entering the Chapel whilst also adding to the contradicting themes of the piece – light is symbolic in most religions and its use is significant here. The new portrait draws on influences of centuries of art history alongside high-camp photographic parody.

Contrasting with the Chapel interior and the expected painted portraiture more usually on display in such settings, the positioning of an illuminated lightbox adds a jarring layer of modernity to the composition.

Peter Sargent of Lite-House Europe said: ‘The illumination of our fine art light box was carefully designed and tested to realise the artist’s vision. The light source was calibrated with a Duratran print by Metro Imaging to ensure brightness and colour rendering aligned with the photograph and size of frame whilst providing the desired light levels in the dark interior of the Fitzrovia Chapel.’

The frame includes Lite-House Europe’s unique pulse width modulation dimmer, designed specially to work with LED systems and eliminate flickering when dimmed. The dimmer is controlled with a built-in momentary switch fitted flush to the frame.

The light box uses Lite-House Europe’s aluminium fine art frame which is hand welded and polished before being hand sprayed in a car body shop for the best possible finish.