ART CITIES: Geneva-Mathieu Cherkit

Mathieu Cherkit is a major figure of the emerging French generation of figurative painters now exhibited internationally. The inspiration for his works comes mainly from the house where he lives. With one floor and a garden that he cultivates, his residence there serves as a pretext to explore multiple subjects, embodied by trinkets, childhood memories, his recent paternity, or even art works that surround him.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Xippas Gallery Archive

Mathieu Cherkit present a series of new paintings in “Truth or Dare”, his first solo exhibition in Switzerland. In his colorful works, loaded with oil paint which spills over from the stretcher, Mathieu Cherkit thwarts the principles of central perspective. He mixes viewpoints with the aim of creating different spaces and temporalities and bringing to life the architecture and the objects that he lives with. 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.

Photo: Mathieu Cherkit, Wisteria, 2024, Oil on canvas, 162 x 211 cm, Photo: Julien Gremaud, © Mathieu Cherkit, Courtesy the artist and Xippas Gallery

Info: Xippas Gallery, Rue des Sablons 6, Geneva, Switzerland, Duration: 13/9-2/11/2024, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 10:00-13:00 & 14:00-18:30, Sat 12:00-17:00, www.xippas.com/