The photographs exhibited in Pixy Liao’s first solo exhibition at L21 Gallery are from the year 2021 and were created during the pandemic. During those months the couple traveled to cities near New York and in one of the places where they stayed there was a piano. The instrument was the trigger for the series of photographs “Piano Duets”. As the artist explains, there is a parallel between these images of four-hand chords and a couple living together: you need to be listening to each other all the time and be at the same level of focus and positivity to play the notes beautifully together.

In addition to being visually beautiful, looking at these photographs where an instrument is being played stimulates us to imagine sounds, albeit subliminally. In this way, the sense of sight is no longer the only one that intervenes, allowing emotions to arise from remote places. In fact, Pixy Liao’s photographs often evoke senses such as touch or even taste, which enrich our perception of the images.

Other exhibited works such as “Forefinger” or “I Push You” poetically subvert the power relationship between men and women that is socially internalised. They are disconcerting in a subtle way, but enough to make us see that something challenges us, or even bothers us. This allows us to reflect on stereotypes or our own prejudices around relationships. The “Piano Duet” exhibition invites us to observe the beauty that emerges from the photographs and at the same time listen to our self-talk, which might surprise us.

Florence Rodenstein