Truth or Dare — Mathieu Cherkit

Opening on September 12, from 6 pm to 9pm, on the occasion of La Nuit des Bains.

Galerie Xippas is delighted to present for the first time in Switzerland the work of artist Mathieu Cherkit. A major figure in the young generation of figurative painters in France, his works are now exhibited internationally. For this Geneva exhibition, the artist will present a series of new paintings.

Mathieu Cherkit paints his environment with meticulousness and particular sensitivity. His paintings capture intimate and domestic scenes such as a stove with a steaming pot, a radiator, a stack of books, terracotta tiles, a dandelion, plants waiting to be planted, apple remains in a crate, a staircase, or wisteria on the wall. His works are windows open to the fleeting moments of his daily life, capturing the poetry of objects and scenes that compose his intimate universe.

His house, with a floor and a garden he cultivates for rejuvenation, serves as a pretext for painting. Mainly populated with objects, Mathieu Cherkit’s paintings resemble still lifes, with focused details where time seems suspended. Sometimes a character, often the artist himself, appears in his works, but his angular, almost disembodied contours create a distance with the viewer.

A notable aspect of Mathieu Cherkit’s technique is the generous use of pictorial material. The oil paint is applied in thick, rich layers, sometimes overflowing the frame. This method gives his works a palpable and dynamic texture, adding a physical dimension to the visual representation. By extending the pictorial material beyond the traditional boundaries of the canvas, he creates an impression of movement and life that transcends the physical and temporal constraints of the medium.

The artist’s paintings intrigue with their uniqueness. There is always a subtle tension in his compositions: modified colors, disrupted scales, crossed perspectives. Mathieu Cherkit plays with spaces and temporalities to bring architecture and the objects around him to life, creating universes that are both familiar and unsettling.

Born in 1982 in Paris, Mathieu Cherkit lives and works in Vallery (France). He graduated from the École des Beaux-Arts in Nantes (France) and the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst (Leipzig, Germany). He was a finalist for several prestigious awards including the Prix Jean François Prat (2013) and the Prix Science Po for Contemporary Art (2013).

His work will be included in the group exhibition “Le jour des peintres - 80 peintres contemporains de la scène française” at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris from 19 September 2024. Other exhibitions this year include “Journal intime, carnet de voyage, livre de bord” at the CAC in Meymac, “Immortelle - Vitalité de la jeune peinture figurative française” at the MOCO in Montpellier, and “We paint” at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

His works are part of public and private collections, including the Fondation Salomon, the Musée des Avelines, the Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, the Fondation Colas, and the Caldic Collection/Museum Voorlinden in the Netherlands.