Photo : Paris Musées / Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris. Photo François Deladerrière
Stéphane Bordarier
Step into a world where time seems to slow down, surrendering to the quiet power of pure, minimalist color. These vibrating canvases reveal hidden depths as you move around them, thanks to a unique and meticulous creation process. Perfect for those looking to find a moment of visual serenity amidst the city hustle.
Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris (Paris 16th)
About
The Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris hosts an exhibition dedicated to Stéphane Bordarier from October 1, 2026, to January 3, 2027. The artist is recognized for his essentialist approach, utilizing a precise method that blends pigment with warm rabbit-skin glue to define both color and form. This exhibition, which highlights the artist's exploration of chromatic depth and light, is free to attend. The museum is fully accessible to all visitors, providing specialized support for wheelchair users, as well as those who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or living with cognitive disabilities.
Gradually reducing his pictorial language to the essential—a color, a form—Stéphane Bordarier explores the potential of a painting that is both rigorous and profoundly sensitive. His works are born from an immutable process: on a canvas stretched over a frame and coated with warm hide glue, he applies pigment during the glue’s setting time. The artist describes himself as being "chased" from the canvas by the material as it sets, determining the completion of the painting: color and form harmonize in a resolution specific to each work. Generally reduced to a single tone, the surface of the canvas acquires, through the impregnation of the pigment mixed with the glue, a matte appearance and a particular intensity. The painting is thus constructed in a close relationship with time.
In the Noires (Blacks) series, the color, derived from a mixture of two tones directly on the canvas, never appears as a fixed or absolute value but reveals a subtle chromatic depth. These works, traversed by changing nuances and sensitive to light and the movement of the viewer, allow their realization process to be perceived.
For nearly thirty years, Galerie Jean Fournier in Paris supported and presented the work of Stéphane Bordarier. He is now represented by Galerie Dina Vierny.
Thanks to a recent acquisition complemented by a donation from the artist, five works by Stéphane Bordarier entered the museum's collections in 2026. They are presented here alongside several loans from the studio, offering a significant overview of his career and his pictorial research.
Our take on this event
From October 1, 2026, to January 3, 2027, the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris presents the work of Stéphane Bordarier. The exhibition is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, inviting the public to witness a unique artistic practice where painting is dictated by the drying time of glue and pigment. This rigorous process creates a matte finish and a singular intensity that characterizes Bordarier's body of work.
The display features five pieces recently added to the museum's collection via acquisition and donation, alongside works on loan from the artist's studio. Highlights include the 'Noires' series, which reveals subtle chromatic shifts depending on the viewer's movement and the surrounding light. After being represented for decades by Galerie Jean Fournier, the artist is now associated with Galerie Dina Vierny.
Admission is free of charge. The venue is designed to be inclusive and accessible to everyone; it offers facilities for wheelchair users and specific adaptations for visitors with cognitive disabilities, as well as those who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, or hard of hearing, with sign language services available.
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