Violetta, 2009
Retired New York City Opera costumemonofilament, stainless steel rings and hardware
6 x 10 x 6 feet
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HOUSTON GRAND OPERA PRESS RELEASE
OTHER DIVAS ASCENDING
E.V. DAY: Violetta at Houston Grand Opera
27 JANUARY – 12 FEBRUARY 2012
La Traviata tells the story of a beautiful, high-society courtesan, Violetta Vale?ry, who falls in love with one of her clients. Her transformation to self-sacrificing heroine constitutes one of opera's greatest portraits and has been the inspiration for countless works of literature, art, and film. In Day's Violetta, the gown has been transformed-broken in half, its lining torn out-but the prim, lacy dress and bones of the cage crinoline remain as a floating, spectral tribute to Violetta's strength of character and her desire to live a true life.
Violetta is from Divas Ascending, a series of 14 suspended sculptures made with costumes from the New York City Opera's archives, a collection comprised of wardrobes from prominent international opera houses. Violetta's dress was originally donated from the Austrian production at the Vienna State Opera.
Divas Ascending was first exhibited in the Promenade of the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center for the 2010 season of the New York City Opera. Presented by Salomon Contemporary and Art Without Walls, the series traveled to the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, Louisville in April 2011. In May 2011, Salomon Contemporary, New York exhibited Butterfly, a work constructed from Cio-Cio San's kimono and Pinkerton's epaulettes.
For further information please contact:
James Salomon: (212) 727-0607 / james@salomoncontemporary.com Claire Vince at Houston Grand Opera: (713) 546-0278 / (832) 738-2611