Yves Tessier

Shark in Shallow Waters

October 8 - November 6, 2021

179 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002

Yves Tessier is not an easy painter to pin down. He has remained stylistically steadfast his entire career and paints exactly how and what he wants (as all good painters should), but his choice of subject matter can drift dramatically. We are equally likely to encounter a serene still-life of his windowsill in Harlem set with a bowl of apples and an open cook book as we are to drop in on the filming of a pornographic video.

There is often a sense in Yves Tessier’s paintings that we have stumbled into moments we were not invited to such as in Blue Locker Room. Modeled cleverly after Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, the painting presents six women of varying skin tones and states of undress staring out to the viewer having been caught off guard by a new presence– us. One woman looks unperturbed as she fumbles in her bag with a banana at her heel and another seems on the verge of screaming, “Get the fuck out out of here”! The group and their surroundings are one, linked through color and touch. A blond woman’s hair falls directly into the line of a locker, a towel drifts seamlessly into a leg, and painted fingernails on one figure match another’s skin tone exactly.

At the core of all of Tessier’s work is a tenderness and a deep understanding of the full spectrum of human feelings. He knows exactly how to set a scene and the power of small details. In his work, Blue Lagoon, a man’s foot rests sweetly on top of his partner’s as she playfully pushes a finger into his cheek. They are in love, it’s obvious, and so lost into one another that they’re missing a giant swordfish leaping outside the window of their yacht. The painting feels true and completely real, and at the same time, like an excerpt from a graphic novel. 

Tessier paints with untraditional materials– casein on metal. Casein is a milk-derived protein that has been used to bind pigments dating back to ancient Egyptians, and the medium is not easy use. It dries quickly and documents every stroke made by an artist, so there is a one-shot quality to it. The resulting sheen is a unique flat-satin surface that looks very unlike oil or acrylic paint, and its use highlights Tessier’s unconventional approach to art making and further sets him apart from most painters today.

Yves Tessier (b. 1955) is a Canadian-born artist who maintains studios in both Montreal and New York City. Shark in Shallow Waters is Tessier’s third solo-exhibition with SHRINE.