You’ve definitely seen her somewhere, at an opening or a portfolio review, in France or abroad. Sure you have—she’s the tall blond with a big cat in her bag! An active member of the Fêtart association and the Circulation(s) Festival, Carine Dolek is now opening Le Petit Espace, a new exhibition space in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. Her partners in this wild adventure are Olivier and Florence Placet, Fabienne Pavia and Emilie Rabany. Some of them will be on hand tomorrow night to welcome you to the opening of their first exhibition, The Dwarf Empire by Sanne de Wilde, for an incredible trip into the heart of a theme park… with dwarves.
An interview with Carine, artistic director of Le Petit Espace.
The Eye of Photography: Tomorrow is the opening of Le Petit Espace. Can you tell us the story behind this new Paris exhibition space?
Carine Dolek: It had been over a year that we had been trying to squeeze a lunch between friends into our schedule. When we finally succeeded last December, my friend told me about a photographer in her collective who was trying to turn his photo studio into an exhibition space. I met with Olivier Placet. It was freezing cold, and I had a fever and a splitting headache—in short, the ideal conditions. The more we spoke and saw each other, the more we realized that we liked it each other, that it was going to happen, that we were a good fit and that it could work. We got his wife, Florence, Fabienne Pavia and Emilie Rabany involved in the adventure, and we were off and running.
TEP: You’re opening with the exhibition The Dwarf Empire from Sanne de Wilde. Why this choice?
C.D: I met Sanne at the festival Encontros da Imagem in Braga, Portugal, where I had gone to represent Fetart at a portfolio review.
She was presenting her book project, which had been shortlisted for the 2013 Unseen Dummy Awards. Once you get past the obscene idea of a dwarf theme park, the finesse and generosity of her approach makes your head spin, along with the kaleidoscopic aspect of the different facets of the work which overlap and echo each other: the portraits, shots in the park, the photos they sent her afterwards, the photos taken by tourists of Sanne herself with the dwarves, wherein we see her evolution from sulky to indifferent to smiling, playing with the camera.
It’s a work which raises more questions than it answers, and for someone like me who’s very interested by the discourse surrounding images and how they affect our perception, it was the perfect choice for a first exhibition. So I contacted her as soon as Le Petit Espace was underway.
TEP: How do you make your artistic choices? What message do you hope to send with Le Petit Espace?
C.D: I saw an interview with an American entrepreneur who explained how his business was going downhill. Panicking, his bank advised him to take his business more mainstream, but instead he decided that wasn’t specific enough, so he “narrowed down” his product. It was a gamble, but it worked.
Since I’ve been a part of Fetart and the Circulation(s) festival, I’ve been trained in group projects, group decisions, compromises, votes, the creation of a multifaceted program. While we all choose and defend projects that reflect our personalities, I never thought about what my own personal artistic line would be. Right now I’m discovering it, doing my own “narrowing down.” And Sanne’s exhibition, which is offbeat, reflective and possessing brutality and grace, is the perfect cornerstone.
TEP: How will Le Petit Espace stay afloat?
C.D: There are a lot of galleries in Paris, lots of exhibition spaces opening and closing. The market’s saturated, competition is stiff, and everywhere you turn is another Cassandra predicting the end of the world. It would seem that we’re living through a crisis.
So we’re doing like all the other galleries, cutting costs and betting the middle.
TEP: Do you already have an idea for your next exhibition?
C.D: A little more than than idea, yes!
EXPHIBITION
The dwarf empire
Photographs by Sanne de Wilde
From May 23rd to July 11th, 2014
Opening view on Thursday, May 22nd at 6.30pm
Le petit espace
15 rue bouchardon
75010 Paris
France
Thursday – Saturday 2.30pm – 7pm
[email protected]
