The Museum of Modern Art in Paris is dedicating its first institutional exhibition in Paris to Stéphane Bordarier, running from July 21, 2026, to January 4, 2027.28.08.2026
View of the exhibition Stéphane Bordarier at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris © Jean Vayssié Born in 1953, Stéphane Bordarier began developing his body of work in the mid-1980s, at a time when painting was gradually ceasing to represent the world and instead turning its attention to its own medium. For him, this reflection does not take the form of a theoretical discourse, but rather a concrete, almost artisanal practice, entirely focused on what he calls “surface quality.” Over the decades, his pictorial language has been refined down to the essentials: a color, a form. Yet this economy is by no means gratuitous minimalism. On the contrary, it constitutes the condition for freedom, grounded in a subtle balance between constraint and spontaneity.
View of the exhibition Stéphane Bordarier at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris © Jean Vayssié
The creation of each painting follows a precise protocol. On a stretched canvas, the artist applies warm animal glue, then applies the pigment during the brief moment when the glue sets. It is then the material itself that brings the action to a close. Bordarier describes himself as “driven” off the canvas by a process he only partially controls. Color and form thus find, in each work, a unique resolution that cannot be reproduced exactly. Imbued with pigment and glue, the surface takes on a distinctive matte quality and chromatic intensity. Its appearance results as much from the chemistry of the process as from the artist’s intention: the material retains the memory of a gesture that was interrupted at the very moment it was set.
View of the exhibition Stéphane Bordarier at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris © Jean Vayssié
View of the exhibition Stéphane Bordarier at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris © Jean Vayssié
On display at the museum, the series Noires powerfully illustrates this exploration. In these works, black emerges from the blending of two tones directly on the canvas. It is never a fixed hue, but rather an unstable chromatic depth that varies depending on the light and the movement of the viewer’s gaze. Beneath their apparent austerity, these canvases reveal traces of the process that gave them life. This exhibition at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris marks a new phase in the artist’s institutional recognition. In 2026, five works by Stéphane Bordarier were added to the museum’s collections, following a recent acquisition supplemented by a donation from the artist. They are displayed alongside several works on loan from the artist’s studio, offering the public a significant glimpse into his career and his pictorial explorations.
View of the exhibition Stéphane Bordarier at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris © Jean Vayssié
In addition to this museum exhibition, a publication is scheduled for release in 2027: a monograph dedicated to Stéphane Bordarier, written by Michel Gauthier and published by Galerie Dina Vierny. It will offer a deeper exploration of a body of work that, for forty years, has evolved far beyond the influence of passing trends. Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris Stéphane Bordarier July 21, 2026–January 4, 2027
The creation of each painting follows a precise protocol. On a stretched canvas, the artist applies warm animal glue, then applies the pigment during the brief moment when the glue sets. It is then the material itself that brings the action to a close. Bordarier describes himself as “driven” off the canvas by a process he only partially controls. Color and form thus find, in each work, a unique resolution that cannot be reproduced exactly. Imbued with pigment and glue, the surface takes on a distinctive matte quality and chromatic intensity. Its appearance results as much from the chemistry of the process as from the artist’s intention: the material retains the memory of a gesture that was interrupted at the very moment it was set.
View of the exhibition Stéphane Bordarier at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris © Jean Vayssié The Museum of Modern Art in Paris is dedicating its first institutional exhibition in Paris to Stéphane Bordarier, running from July 21, 2026, to January 4, 2027.
Born in 1953, Stéphane Bordarier began developing his body of work in the mid-1980s, at a time when painting was gradually ceasing to represent the world and instead turning its attention to its own medium. For him, this reflection does not take the form of a theoretical discourse, but rather a concrete, almost artisanal practice, entirely focused on what he calls “surface quality.” Over the decades, his pictorial language has been refined down to the essentials: a color, a form. Yet this economy is by no means gratuitous minimalism. On the contrary, it constitutes the condition for freedom, grounded in a subtle balance between constraint and spontaneity.
The creation of each painting follows a precise protocol. On a stretched canvas, the artist applies warm animal glue, then applies the pigment during the brief moment when the glue sets. It is then the material itself that brings the action to a close. Bordarier describes himself as “driven” off the canvas by a process he only partially controls. Color and form thus find, in each work, a unique resolution that cannot be reproduced exactly. Imbued with pigment and glue, the surface takes on a distinctive matte quality and chromatic intensity. Its appearance results as much from the chemistry of the process as from the artist’s intention: the material retains the memory of a gesture that was interrupted at the very moment it was set.
View of the exhibition Stéphane Bordarier at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris © Jean Vayssié
View of the exhibition Stéphane Bordarier at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris © Jean Vayssié
On display at the museum, the series Noires powerfully illustrates this exploration. In these works, black emerges from the blending of two tones directly on the canvas. It is never a fixed hue, but rather an unstable chromatic depth that varies depending on the light and the movement of the viewer’s gaze. Beneath their apparent austerity, these canvases reveal traces of the process that gave them life. This exhibition at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris marks a new phase in the artist’s institutional recognition. In 2026, five works by Stéphane Bordarier were added to the museum’s collections, following a recent acquisition supplemented by a donation from the artist. They are displayed alongside several works on loan from the artist’s studio, offering the public a significant glimpse into his career and his pictorial explorations.
View of the exhibition Stéphane Bordarier at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris © Jean Vayssié
In addition to this museum exhibition, a publication is scheduled for release in 2027: a monograph dedicated to Stéphane Bordarier, written by Michel Gauthier and published by Galerie Dina Vierny. It will offer a deeper exploration of a body of work that, for forty years, has evolved far beyond the influence of passing trends. Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris Stéphane Bordarier July 21, 2026–January 4, 2027
Galerie Dina Vierny
36 rue Jacob, 75006 Paris
53 rue de Seine, 75006 Paris
Open from Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Galerie Dina Vierny
36 rue Jacob, 75006 Paris
53 rue de Seine, 75006 Paris
Open from Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
