Biography
After studying art at The Chicago Art Institute, Anna Gaskell received her M.F.A. from Yale University. Her works are in the collections of a number of museums including the Guggenheim (New York), MOCA (Los Angeles), The Israel Museum (Jerusalem), Museum Ludwig (Köln), Magasin 3 (Stockholm) as well as many others. Essays and interviews by Massimilani Gioni, Nancy Spector, Thomas Trummer, Isreal Rosenfeld, and Matthew Drutt, can be found in publications Anna Gaskell, half life, At Sixes and Sevens, Dejavu, and Voice and Void. Anna Gaskell received the Citibank photography Prize in 2000 and a Nancy Graves Fellowship in 2002. Gaskell produced and directed the short film Erasers, which won Best Film in the Art Category at the Kunst Film Biennale in 2005. Gaskell received the award for Best Documentary Short Film for her film Replayground at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2009. Her latest film SOSW Ballet was screened at The Tribeca Film Center, The Foundation Querini Stampalia for the Venice Biennale, and at the Art Film Program at Art Basel in 2011. Gaskell has been the recipient of grants from NYFA, Artslink, and The Bohen Foundation in 2010
In Recollets, Anna Gaskell is working together with NY based italian artist Valentina Medda, on their Opera "Seven Acts in Seven Stages" to be shown at the Musée Carnavaleti n October 2012.
Valentina Medda received her M.A. from the University of Bologna in 2009. Her work has been exhibited in Copenhagen Photo Festival, Triennale BOVISA, MANIFESTA07, TinaB_Prague’s Antibiennal, PERFORMA09, DUMBO Art Festival. She has been artist in residence in Les Bain:Connective-Brussel, and she received the kodak Award, the MOVIN-UP Award, the Master&Back Fellowship, and the NYFA Mentorship for Immigrant artists. More recently, she has been recommended as Artist in residence for the Marina Abramovich Institute in San Francisco and she's been invited at 54th Venice Biennale -Regional Selections.
Contact
akgaskell@gmail.com
Yvon Lambert Gallery
contact Nicolas Nahab
33 1 42 71 09 33
PROPOSAL
Seven Stages was inspired by the discovery of a secret time capsule buried underneath the Garnier Opera House. Hidden in deep urns, recordings from some of the 19th centuries most celebrated voices were concealed in a sub-basement in 1907. Excavated in 2007, the discovered recorded Arias are from renowned Operas such as Carmen, Le Trouvere, Les Pecheur des Perles, and Aida, as well as many others.
Seven Stages combines dancing, acting and singing, as any other Opera. However, unlike other Operas the singing is lip-synched. The music belongs to various Operas from a selection of the Arias that were unearthed; our desire being to give the audience the opportunity to listen to the original voices. Therefore, the music, which usually has a narrative function in Opera, becomes here one element amongst the others, creating a tension and a dialogue together with, or in opposition to, the theatrical performances.
The Opera portrays a woman rapidly aging day to day, from her birth to her death. The libretto is composed of 7 acts each one is performed in a different room around the Hotel de Carnavalet.
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