Stéphane Bordarier

Since the mid-1980s, Stéphane Bordarier has developed a distinctive approach to painting centred on the medium itself. His practice focuses on what he describes as “surface quality”, balancing predetermined constraints with the freedom of gesture.

Gradually reducing his pictorial language to its essentials—colour and form—Bordarier creates paintings that combine rigour with sensitivity. His works follow a consistent process: pigment is applied to a canvas coated with warm rabbit-skin glue, during the brief period before the glue sets. As the material fixes, it determines when the painting is complete. Usually limited to a single dominant tone, the surface acquires a distinctive matt appearance and intensity through the absorption of pigment into the glue.

The Noires series reveals the subtle depth of this approach. Made by mixing two tones directly on the canvas, the colour changes with the light and the viewer’s position, making the process of its creation perceptible.

Five works by Bordarier entered the museum collection in 2026 through a recent acquisition and a gift from the artist. Presented alongside loans from his studio, the exhibition offers an insight into the development of his practice and his sustained exploration of colour, surface and time.