Dune Varela
Fragments, 2019
Photographic print on ceramic fragments, variable format, unique piece
© Courtesy Dune Varela
Grands ensembles (detail), 2019
Photographic print on concrete, erasure, 120 × 280 cm / 47 × 110 in, unique piece
© Courtesy Dune Varela
Born in Paris in 1976
Lives and works in Montreuil, France
Dune Varela's practice, which focuses on photography and video, attempts to shift the codes of photographic representation in favor of the sculptural object. She creates a visual space, by means of fictional archaeology, within which the photographic documentation of ruins, such as fragments of ancient bas-reliefs and statuary, but also large ensembles from the 1960s and 1970s, corroborates not only the dissolution of the image's material status but also the collapse of postindustrial civilization.
From alteration to destruction, from concealment to erasure; the photographic image is no longer purely figurative in nature, but becomes a source of reflection on its own status. It is no longer merely a matter of representation, but rather of reincarnation, both literally and figuratively, into the very material on which it becomes the medium.
Dune Varela first studied Law in Paris, then Film in New York. She worked on documentary and short films then focused on film photography. In 2016, she was awarded the BMW residence at the Nicéphore Niepce Museum, and her series Toujours le Soleil was exhibited at the Rencontres d'Arles in 2017. She was then invited to show work in various places such as the Galerie Particuli.re (Paris) and at events such as the Biennale de l'image Tangible (Liège).
a ppr oc he sector
As an independent salon, a ppr oc he aims to promote and defend artists with multiple backgrounds. It is in this context that in 2018, the a ppr oc he sector was created to open the selection to artists not represented to date by a gallery.
