YVES TESSIER – BEDROOM WALLS IN HARLEM / BY APPOINTMENT (NY)

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Where do my ideas come from? Sometimes I get ideas just from a simple stroll in my neighbourhood. As I was walking on Lenox Avenue (Malcom X Blvd) one day at about two in the afternoon… « There she was, just a walkin’ down the street, singin’ do wah diddy, diddy dum diddy do… The next thing I knew, she was walkin’ next to me, singin’ do wah diddy, diddy dum diddy do ». This young woman told me she was coming out of a three day rave party and was famished. I noticed she had an amazingly shaped head and neck with a unique hairdo and beautiful facial profile. I asked if she wanted to model for me, in return I would cook up a big brunch for her. She accepted. In my kitchen she devoured scrambled eggs with melted cheddar cheese, collard greens, sweet potatoes and black coffee. Now, she was ready to model. She sat on a chair in my studio as I did a twenty minute pencil drawing of her head in perfect profile. When we were done, she asked me if she could lay down on the little yoga matt on the floor. Sure, I said, and brought her a pillow and a blanket. Within seconds she was snoring. I had a closer look at her head resting on the pillow and saw that she was drooling.

A year later I made a little painting from that profile drawing.

Another idea came while I was having my haircut at a fancy hair-relaxing salon called « Pizzazz », again on Lenox avenue. I was fascinated by the postures and gestures of all these women standing and grooming their female clients sitting on salon chairs. Something very Egyptian about that everyday life. From memory, I worked and from imagination decided to dress them all in white.

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A number of ideas also originated at The New York Public Library branch on 115th street. One day I took my little camera with a powerful zoom along and started snapping away at what I saw around me until I was caught by a librarian woman who told me politely to abstain from my compulsion.

The idea to hold a solo show in my bedroom came to me when I cleared all the furniture except the bed thus leaving plenty of wall space to hold about 25 recent paintings and hang them in a salon style. The room has a closet with a curtain instead of a door. I thought this closet was perfect to hang a painting that pre-dates Charlie Hebdo’s event with Islamic subject matter combined with sexual taboos. The room, which is on the top floor of a brownstone town house, has exquisite proportions with three windows facing south onto a large courtyard, therefore providing a sunny and quiet oasis. This oasis offers the possibility to view the work, of mostly intimate situations on a variety of orientations, in a context of intimacy. The north-facing studio will also be open for viewers. For those who are curious about how these paintings are made using an ancient Egyptian painting process, casein, they will find the recipe.

I have lived and worked between Harlem and Montréal since 2002. All paintings are produced in Harlem and – so far – all exhibitions have taken place in Canada.

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