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.
concrete – a collection of works (including poetry series)
- femininity – femininiation 2011
- Moving Message 1992
- Word-fore-play – Recipe for Love 1995
- Sonata in Sea 1999 – 2000
- wish 2000
- wrestlewithyourangel 2001
- neonazi 2001
- Poker Poems 2003
- elle la poésie 2003
- lesser is me more or less 2003
- Promised Land – a collection of works 2005
- Mid Summer 2005
- Un 2006
- or else 2007
- half dimensional poems 2009 – 2011
- half dimensional – semi detached 2010
- cement 2011
- on a mat appear 2011 -
- Lost Poems 2011
- weißer neger (white nigger) 2011
- informed 1.3.2011
- concrete party 2011
- oral call 2011
- cross word 2011 – 2012
- toned poems 2011 – 2012
- two toned 2012
- pommes 2012
- taste of space 2012 – 2013
- leeres archiv (empty archive) 2013
- archive burn out 2011 – 2014
- hero of your own saga 2013 – 2014
- magical reality 2014 – 2015
Presentation
2000 Solo exhibition, Hotel Seehof, Zurich (CH)
Press
2001 (6−7) Announcement of the exhibition “Insensed” Hotel Seehof, Zurich (CH) in Kunstforum International, edition 155 (D)