Private Spaces

Private Spaces is a unique exhibition that marries medium with message. Taking place in the private home-come exhibition space of artist and co-curator Zoe Catherine Kendall, visitors are invited to quite literally step across the threshold of public into private realms. A peek inside reveals an spectrum of talent across photography, video art, painting, momento making and word, by seven of London’s most exciting emerging artists; Waldemar Pranckiewicz, Gedvile Bunikyte, Christian Nyampeta, Adeline de Monseignat, Nic Shonfield, Suzie Blake and Zoe Catherine Kendall.

Dazed Digital: How did the idea for the exhibition come about?
Zoe Catherine Kendall: I had been planning an exhibition at Zoe's Place for a while – it seemed the natural progression from the art events and salons I’d been running. Private Spaces is an attempt to explore the liminal atmospheres between the artists, their work and their audience.

DD: What is it about the idea of private spaces that interests you?
Zoe Catherine Kendall: There are so many varied interpretations of a theme such as private spaces. I am particularly fascinated by the private realms of thought which we all reside within. I don't see these spaces as being other to our experience of life, instead I see them as playing a central role in our interpretation of and response to the world.

DD: How did you and Suzie Blake choose the artists to involve in the exhibition?
Zoe Catherine Kendall: Many of the artists involved had started to emerge as key voices in the art events already held at Zoe's Place. Each artist was selected for the playful, sometimes challenging qualities and the strong, personal voices in their work. We wanted to include a range of approaches including video art, installation, photography, painting, word art and object so as to intensify the sense of immersion into a 3D environment for the visitor.

DD: Could you tell us a little about the work on display?
Zoe Catherine Kendall: It’s really varied; Waldemar is asking for people to anonymously post secrets to him via his website. Visitors will have the opportunity to contribute their secrets and reads others. Adeline's current work tackles the question: ‘is there space for touch in the visual arts? Inviting the audience to penetrate the privacy of her sculpture’s womb-like environment. With the use of sound devices, Christian Nyampeta's proposition of 'Private Spaces' will be a negotiation between public annunciations and gestures of intimacy. Gedvile Bunikyte’s short film "The talk of Flowers" is an intimate record of an afternoon stroll to the Serpentine gallery with Jonas Mekas and his son. A private moment in a public space captured in an non-intrusive intuitive manner, whilst Suzie Blake’s piece ‘Lost Memories’ developed out of a bunch of old rolls of films she found at her mother’s house.

DD: You are turning your private home into a 'gallery' for the exhibition, do you think you are exposing yourself or welcoming others?
Zoe Catherine Kendall: There is definitely an element of exposure, although I have asserted some control over this by providing the address only when potential visitors RSVP. I’d like to think of the act as welcoming rather than exposing. We have something to share with others. Anyway – exposure isn't always a bad thing - I want to evoke an ethos of openness, exchange and accessibility. I think the art world could benefit more from this, as much as the realms of the private.

DD: What do you think is the difference between public and private spaces?
Zoe Catherine Kendall: Boundaries are the defining detail here. There has to be a threshold between one and the other – a doorway, a fence, a keyhole. Some spaces are easily accessible, others by invitation, some totally private. Perhaps inhibition is reduced when we enter the familiar realms of personal territory, and authenticity may be increased. In public spaces we may be on guard – and by this very measure create a private zone for ourselves as we move about. In this sense private spaces exist everywhere – within public spaces, just as a mind exists within a body, or a person in an office.

Wednesday April 13th – Sunday April 17th. Opening Hours: 11am – 6pm daily - London E1 - email or telephone for address (contact details below). Contact Zoe: Email: zoe@zoekendall.com Phone: 07811100218