London - Paris - Exhibition - Baby Grand Piano - Karalla

 - Karalla's Baby Grand Piano 
Press Release (comunicato stampa)
 
Bridge Art Fair 
 London
Trafalgar hotel  - Trafalgar Square   SW1A 2TS
Room 101
11 – 14 October 2007
and

Slick 07 
 Paris
à La Bellevilloise 
 19-21 rue Boyer 
 75020
Stand No. 2.09
19-22 Octobre 2007-09-07

18 Octobre Preview à 14hVernissage 18h
M Ménilmontant ou Gambetta (exit Martin Nadeau)

Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh lord why don't we?

The Baby Grand Piano is a photomontage of 88 penises (52 white and 36
black) photographed and digitally assembled to make a 60-inch piano
keyboard. Karalla studied the construction of a piano, took some
20,000 photographs over a period of two years in Southern Italy and
New York City, and built the 7 octaves of the instrument.

In The Baby Grand Piano, Karalla explores a key taboo, the penis. Some
societies tend to view the penis as ugly and something that should not
be seen, touched or even discussed. The Baby Grand Piano encourages
both participant and viewer to re-examine their relationship to this
powerful subject. Women played an unprecedented role in banding
together and bringing their men to Karalla, while the men themselves –
as the faceless donors - were freed of identity and class.

For the viewer The Baby Grand Piano is an invitation to investigate
not only personal but also cultural attitudes towards the penis, such
as the question of circumcision, and the differences between rural
Italy and urban America. Beyond that the work presents the viewer with
a glimpse of prohibited knowledge, a forbidden fruit as timeless as
that on the Tree of Knowledge that stood before Adam and Eve. As such
it encourages, dares even, the viewer to experience a moment of
transgression in seeing a taboo image presented in a new context. As
Karalla herself says, 'As an artist, I am constantly exploring the
barriers that Culture imposes. I ponder what would happen if these
restrictions were to lose their hold upon us.  The Baby Grand Piano is
the result of this examination, through which I aim to create a
community of transgression.'

Karalla works between the modern backdrop of New York City and the
rural south of Basilicata, Italy. Between these two landscapes, the
inhabitants participate in order for her projects to take on a life of
their own. Heavily draped in the Catholic order, Italy intertwines
with its opposite, the land of freedom, New York City; her projects
bring the communities of people together. The participants that are
involved are also challenged, questioning their beliefs, cultural
upbringing and identity within their community.


Cynthia Karalla has exhibited in United States, Canada, Italy,
Switzerland, and Japan. Collections include MOMA, NY, Cooper-Hewitt
Museum, NY, New York Public Library, Yokohama Museum, Japan, Daniel
Katz, London, UK and Edward R. Down Jr., USA.


The Cynthia Corbett Gallery
http://www.thecynthiacorbettgallery.com
- info@thecynthiacorbettgallery.com -
                P +44 (0) 20 8947 6782 - M +44 07 939 085 076

-- 
www.karalla.com
info@karalla.com
+1 212 860 8900
011 39 338 714 9660