She arrived without warning and made her way through the artistic landerneau. Armelle de Dieuleveult took over the YellowKorner gallery, rue Piron, in Dijon, in September 2020, by partnering with the owner Hélène Desaga. It must be said that since 2007 the days stretched out like Gruyère cheese in a plate of pasta and, one day, she decided to leave the supermarkets to embark on other spaces and thus meet a new challenge. That she does not regret above all.
“The notion of commitment, it runs through my veins with all the capital of adventure that accompanies it” confides the young woman with a lively and intense gaze and eyes that squint when the smile widens. Indeed, she is one of those thirsty for adventure who, for lack of unknown lands to explore, retrace the path that others have already traveled by setting the bar ever higher. Who hasn’t dreamed of doing like her, exploring new territories, getting out of the Monday morning routine? His choice reminds us that in these sanitized times, there are still great ways to escape, to opt for the (big) side roads.
A traveler, Armelle de Dieuleveult is one by mission but above all by conviction. As was his charismatic cousin Philippe de Dieuleveult, a journalist and image reporter who disappeared mysteriously in Zaire in 1985. “Photography is a product that speaks to my heart, deeply. I wanted a more independent experience. The YellowKorner opportunity presented itself” she explains. A photographer at heart, the shop becomes his laboratory in a way. She listens to all the influences, all the asperities, all the grains. Contrary to a certain contemporary photography eager for sensationalism.
She observes, listens, relays the artistic vibrations whose only limit is her horizon line. That is to say if its landscapes are vast. The here rubs shoulders with the elsewhere. The ultra-local coexists with the distant escape. Interiority invites conviviality. Regional anchoring associates nomadism. Sustainability breathes innovation. Unique talent accompanies a plural culture. It is to say if the glances converge.
A catalog of more than 350 photographers
Born in Poitiers, with 13 moves before she turned 18, we understand better why Armelle lives without borders,eye at three hundred and sixty degrees, always open to encounters, ready for discovery. A woman of passion, a woman of commitment, Armelle endeavors to tell human stories in order to extract from the whirlwind of images what, in her eyes, has exemplary value. It is always easier to photograph the unknown or the distant. The real difficulty is to look for the image in a daily life that we know by heart. Armelle de Dieuleveult has always thought that we did not need to go in search of meaning to the antipodes, but that we could find it among our next door neighbors. And to underline its commitment to the artistic world with a large catalog of just over 350 photographers: “It is my duty to have a link with local artists. I organize very regularly with them, at least once a month, events to highlight them, allow them to live an experience which is that of showing themselves to the world. On March 10 and 11, I have chosen to bring together 5 artists: a photographer, three designers and a painter who will occupy the space all weekend to show their work, their commitment to subjects relating to woman (1)”.
Committed, Armelle also claims to be so on a day-to-day basis. In his shop: “It starts as close as possible to what I do daily with the requirement of commercial quality, to do the best possible by showing the example to the people who work alongside me, with the concern of registering in a permanent progression in view of what I have already achieved”. To measure the point, enter the gallery which allows the fixed image to deploy its multiple facets, offers exceptional images of rare plastic beauty. To wonder if there are still virgin lands and unbeaten paths.
Finally, Armelle, in her own way, is an adventurer. Through the authenticity and scope of her artistic approaches, the quality of the photographs exhibited, she is in line with those great explorers who have marked our imaginations. There is no doubt that his cousin Philippe would have appreciated…
Jean Louis Pierre
(1) Nicholas de Linage, Samuel Mougey, Rosa-Franca, Olga Gay and Klem
YellowKorner
25 rue Piron. Dijon
Photo : Christophe Remondiere
