Artist Statement: This piano is a celebration of the people and the arts of New York City. Growing up here, I was exposed to the visual clash of graffiti, decaying walls, torn-up ads, and the effect that time and the elements had on surfaces. Bright colors are an essential element in the piano in order to depict the diversity and fast pace of the city. I incorporated collage work using my photographs sketches, journal pages and scribbles on pieces of scrap paper. The piano also includes a "piano chords" chart to invite non-musicians to play also. Hoping this interactive and participatory experience with the work can perhaps become gateway into music, the arts and learning an instrument.
"Franck de las Mercedes is an artist who lives and works in New York City. He was born in Masaya, Nicaragua. Franck's experience as a child in war-torn Nicaragua, the visual clash of New York’s graffiti, and an interest in the abstract expressionism movement played a major role in de las Mercedes becoming a visual artist. Incorporating elements of photography, drawings, journal pages, and text art, Franck creates frenetic paintings with energetic abstractions bursting with color. In 2006, Franck achieved international acclaim with his conceptual art project “The Priority Boxes."" An ongoing public project conceived as a way to bring contemporary art to a broader audience, the boxes encourage people to participate in conversations about peace and challenge them to question their ability to influence change and the fragility, value and priority given to those concepts. Named one of Complex magazine’s “15 Artists About to Dominate 2015”, Franck has participated in numerous national and international exhibits around the world. On February 18, 2014 Franck lost over a decade of his body of work in a five alarm fire that destroyed his home and studio in Weehawken, NJ. The artist relocated to Washington Heights, the upper Manhattan neighborhood where he grew up, to rebuild his life. "
