ALEXANDER DE CADENET
DEMI-MONDE

5 DEC-7 FEB 2010

THURS-SAT 11AM-5PM
SUNDAY 12-4PM OR BY APPOINTMENT

Conversation with the artist and curator
6-8pm 28 Jan 2010

Between 2007 and 2009, ALEXANDER DE CADENET documented various personal experiences and situations with a succession of mobile phone cameras. Drawn directly from his travels, his subjects and scenes range from those familiar to him to the unknown. From four thousand photos he selected only 36 to be printed and presented in this exhibition, entitled, DEMI-MONDE.

Originally a derogatory term, popularized since the 1860’s by the French ‘Belle-Epoque’ writers such as Balzac, Baudelaire and de Maupassant, it denoted females of ill-moral repute eking out an existence on the fringes of society. Since the relative equality between men and women has been achieved in the West, the meaning of the term has continued to evolve. Today, it still suggests people and places ‘on the edge’, but unconventionally creative, ‘shadowy’ or quirky ‘outsiders’ unable or unwilling to conform to the mores of ‘mainstream’ materialistic or vanity-obsessed society.

The people and places that define the ‘demi-monde’ are investigated in this collection of photos. They reveal that not only is it a rich mining ground for inspiration but also how transformed and ameliorated the definition has become, especially at a time when global and local societies alike are radically re-addressing their core beliefs and values.

The selection has been categorised into six different sub-groups, each offering a philosophical or psychological meditation into the varying ingredients of the ‘Demi-Monde’ today and thereby a window into the mechanisms and inspirations behind creativity.