Photospace Gallery - contemporary New Zealand photography
  • Exhibitions
  • Artists
  • About
  • Links
  • Photo books
  • Blog
  • A Month of Sundays - Responses to the Covid-19 Lockdown

'Korean Dreams' - Nathalie Daoust (Canada) - 8th-30th July, 2016, at Photospace Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand

24/6/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Photograph and caption by Nathalie Daoust, from her exhibition 'Korean Dreams'


In early 2014, Canadian artist Nathalie Daoust's New York agent contacted me about showing 'Korean Dreams' in New Zealand, and now we have the pleasure of presenting this important body of photographic artwork.

Nathalie Daoust took photos in North Korea, taking risks by working discreetly in places where it is not permitted to photograph. The resulting images are presented not as straight documentary photographs, but by using a technique of peeling the emulsion from the print backing and then making a contact print from it , then repeating this process. The effect is to create layers of texture to represent obscurity and misinformation, effectively the 'many hidden layers before being able to see the truth'. Daoust's photographs explore the idea of the fantasy world created by the North Korean regime, a world that is difficult to understand, or even to see, from an outsider's perspective.

"
Korean Dreams is a complex series that probes the mysterious world of North Korea. Nathalie’s images reveal a country that seems to exist outside of time, as a carefully choreographed mirage.[4] She has spent much of her career exploring the chimeric world of fantasy: the hidden desires and urges that compel people to dream, to dress up, to move beyond the bounds of convention. With Korean Dreams she is exploring this escapist impulse not as an individual choice, but as a way of life forced upon an entire nation."
- From the Wikipedia article on Nathalie Daoust -

More info about Nathalie Daoust can be found on her website:
daoustnathalie.com
'Exposing the real North Korea through secret photography' - AnOther magazine article
Article (in German) in Der Spiegel, June 12th 2016
Nathalie's full artist bio is shown below, as a document.

Note

International exhibitions are few and far between at Photospace Gallery, for several reasons:
  • There are many NZ-based artists wanting to show their work, and they take priority. (The gallery was established in 1998 mainly to show NZ photography, as there was no extant specialist gallery at the time.)
  • There are higher freight costs, and insurance, importation and other handling issues with bringing in the artworks
  • It is usually not possible for the artist to attend the opening
  • Sadly, there is only limited interest in NZ in overseas artists who are not household names.
However, it is good to sometimes ignore all of these problems and show work by an international artist, for the sake of variety, to give exposure to different practices, and so as not to be too insular.

That is to say, Nathalie is currently in Berlin and won't be coming to New Zealand with her show, but I hope that you will come and see this work. And I hope the North Korean cyber-army doesn't hack and destroy my gallery website in reprisal for hosting this exhibition. I'll be really cross with them if they do.

Picture
Photograph and caption by Nathalie Daoust, from her exhibition 'Korean Dreams'

Nathalie Daoust - artist bio

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Photography Matters II
    by James Gilberd, owner of Photospace Gallery

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    October 2021
    August 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Friday Photo
    General
    Historic
    Puff Pieces
    Reviews

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Exhibitions
  • Artists
  • About
  • Links
  • Photo books
  • Blog
  • A Month of Sundays - Responses to the Covid-19 Lockdown