Mathieu Cherkit: Tendrement

Mathieu Cherkit presents fifteen paintings that share a common setting, all originating in or around his home studio. This shared context provides a starting point for an exploration of different viewpoints. The house serves as a setting, while its objects become elements within the compositions. Each painting examines the act of looking, including where the gaze is directed and how painting can reconstruct a viewpoint. Cherkit combines movements of the body with the direction of the gaze, transforming familiar domestic spaces into varied visual compositions.

The different viewpoints are also shaped by the time taken to make the paintings. Beginning in the middle of the day, Cherkit follows a specific method: each section is worked on at the same time of day in order to maintain consistent lighting from one day to the next. Each painting therefore develops according to its own chronology, with the process repeated daily until the work is completed. The diptych Tendrement further demonstrates this progression: its left-hand section, painted in daylight, gradually extends into the right-hand panel, which was painted later in the evening.

Rather than working from photography, Cherkit moves between memory, sketches and direct observation. His sketches establish the overall structure, planes and colours, while some works are painted directly in front of the subject.