Chantal Joffe, my flesh and tender – Liberation

The little painting which gives its title to the first exhibition of Chantal Joffe in France, since 2001, also sets the tone, family, and the touch, creamy. It is The Dog’s Birthdaythat his mistress cuddles between his arms, sitting in front of the cake, prepared for the occasion. The subject, cute, corses in the treatment that the London artist delivers. The long hair of the girl drips in brown curls on the fried coat of the doggie drawn with generous brush strokes reducing him to a large ball with contours and even to the uncertain shape. The dog, all excited by so many cajoleries, trepigne and fidget. And the cake is amendment: the chocolate cream dumplings with which it is covered, plush on the edges. From the mistress to the dog and to the cake, everything is topped, in a brown shades, of the same fatty and comfortable layer. The canvas portrays a warm moment of shared affection within the family home, where ridiculous does not kill, and where appearances count less.

Joffe (born in 1969) does not hide anything from these hours when her subjects, her loved ones always-her husband, her daughter, her friends, sherself often-are little to their advantage. It is a cozy work and without embarrassment therefore (why bother when you are at home or between yourself?) Who does not spare his models, that the brush comes tenderly caressing, but a little too close and a little too strong. Like a slobber kiss. The husband takes dear (and flesh) when he gets out of the bath, arms,