David H. Koch Theater Artwork
E.V. Day
Exploding Couture
Celebrating City Opera's return to the newly renovated David H. Koch Theater, renowned artist E.V. Day has created a site-specific installation of dynamic sculptures comprised of City Opera costumes.
Working in a medium Day describes as "exploding couture," pieces such as Cio-Cio San's kimono, Don Giovanni's cape, Carmen's mantilla, and Manon's elegant 18th-century dress are transformed into dramatic stop-motion expressions suspended above the Promenade.
On View
November 5-22 and March 18 - April 18
Free to City Opera ticket holders
Free Public Viewing: Friday, November 6, 5-8pm
Read the press release
"I want the sculptures to channel and release the energy that flows into these garments from the characters who wear them. I want to fill the space with the lyricism and bravura of opera. To be able to work with this treasure trove of costumes, in this great architectural space, is the opportunity of a lifetime" - E.V. Day
E. V. Day is a New York-based sculptor and installation artist whose work is in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA, The Brooklyn Museum, The New Museum, the Saatchi Collection, and others. Learn more about the artist at Deitch Projects and evday.net.
Parallel Perceptions:
Emerging Artists at New York City Opera
A long-time proponent of up-and-coming artists, New York City Opera brings opera's contemporary relevance to the forfront by pairing the work of five photographers with the 2009-2010 repetoire. The photographs cast a fresh perspective on our interpretation of opera's most archetypal stories and images. See these thought-provoking works as well as additional photographs by Elinor Carucci, Christopher Morris, and Rachel Papo in this special exhibition on display in the David H. Koch Theater.
Meet select artists at a free public reception: Friday, November 6, 5-8pm
On View: November 5-22 (Free for ticket holders)
Esther
Preparing for First Hand Grenade Throwing, 2005
© Rachel Papo
Drawing from her experience as a teenager serving in the Israeli Air Force, Papo’s work depicts the subject’s negotiation of the often contradictory roles of soldier and adolescent girl. The image echoes the struggle of Esther, who was also a teenager at the time she was called to risk her own life to save her people from annihilation. To learn more about Rachel Papo click here.
Don Giovanni
Devotion, 2004
© Christopher Morris
A veteran war correspondent, Morris has documented over 18 foreign conflicts, including the wars in Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Yugoslavia. In the past five years he has focused on domestic political campaigns. The image depicts a sense of privilege and entitlement shared by Don Giovanni, our conscienceless antihero. To learn more about Christopher Morris click here.
L'Étoile
Running Fireworks, 2007
© Ryan McGinley
Ryan McGinley’s work explores the tropes of vernacular photography as well as constructs of innocence, sexuality, and celebrity. This image was photographed on a classic American road trip and depicts prototypical youthful indifference and folly. The image lends itself to L’Étoile as it simultaneously suggests lighthearted revelry and the mists of fortune. To learn more about Ryan McGinley click here.
Madama Butterfly
Part #21, 2003
© Nikki S. Lee
Incorporating her likeness in all her works, Lee’s self-portraits investigate gender and ethnic identity as it is affected or changed through social contexts, cultural categories or personal relationships. In her series Parts, she appears in hypothetical relationships with unidentifiable, interchangeable partners that evoke the role-playing inherent in romantic love and its potential disillusionment. The image captures Butterfly’s impending sense of loss and portends looming tragedy. To learn more about Nikki S. Lee click here.
Partenope
Mother Drives Me in the Rain, 2000
© Elinor Carucci
Elinor Carucci engages her own relatives in the examination of familial drama. Her image is characterized by its cinemagraphic and voyeuristic gaze, engaging themes of identity, aging, and intimacy with startling humor and sincerity. The photograph suggests that the driver, like Partenope, is an elegant, powerful woman, the master of her own domain. To learn more about Elinor Carucci click here.