Sonata in Sea 1999 – 2000

Photo series with English text

17 photos Sealed onto Forex sheets, plexiglass and clip-framed 1999 – 2000

8 photographs 30.3 x 45.1 cm
8 photographs 20 x 45.1 cm (English text)
1 photograph 9.5 x 14.8 cm (title)

Edition of seven

Edition of seven:
8 photographs 60.6 x 90.2 cm
8 photographs 40 x 90.2 cm
1 photograph 19 x 29.6 cm

Sonata in Sea is presented as a room installation, where a CD of Suzanne Bradbury may also be heard.

A printed leaflet of the photo series was produced, with designer Thomas Zöller in 2001

8 colour photos of the concert pianist Suzanne Bradbury taken by Tanya Ury in the summer of 1999 portray Suzy rehearsing at the palace of the Archduke Luis Salvador, Son Marroig, Mallorca. These pictures, shot within a few seconds, specifically demonstrate hand movement over the piano keys. The images, hang edge-to-edge on a wall reading from left to right. Hand-written poetic texts by Tanya Ury (on music paper), accompany the images. The eight similarly framed but narrower text photos, hang (also edge-to-edge) directly beneath the portraits. A final smallest photo, the title, hangs beneath the last text to the right.

The title (and text) suggest that Suzanne might be playing Chopin’s Sonata in C (minor) — Chopin is part of Bradbury’s repertoire but in the summer of 2000, she also performed a sonata by the late Peter Ury (Tanya’s father), at Son Marroig. In the background of the photographs, the concert hall is empty; reflected in the wing of the grand piano a motionless Mediterranean landscape can be seen.

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Tanya Ury’s written poetry may be regarded as “concrete” because of its visual design, and unconventional aural effect when spoken — the texts thereby gain in dimension beyond accepted meaning.

Ury has also created other artworks that might be considered visual poetry. Moving Message 1992, incorporates an LED sign displaying the words: you are why; Sonata in Sea 1999 – 2000 is a photo series combined with poetry and wrestlewithyourangel 2001, is a neon sign produced together with the neon sign neonazi 2001; the title of a double photo portrait lesser is me more or less 2003 plays on the name of the German Post-Impressionist Lesser Ury, as does the title of a further double portrait or else 2007, which refers to the German writer Else Ury. The title of a third photo-portrait Beelzebularin 2005 (in the Promised Land series) reveals itself to be an anagram of the biblical Bezalel Ben Uri. half dimensional — semi detached 2010, combines the first of the half dimensional poems with the photograph semi detached.