From Paris, with Desire

French artist Etienne Yver is traveling to Wyandotte from Paris for his show “Devices and Desires II–A Sojourn in America."

Normally home to local and regional artists, is taking a first step toward bringing outside artists to Wyandotte. Gallery Director Jeremy Hansen said his business has been gathering pieces of Yver’s work for about a year. The show opens Friday.

“It’s going to be a very classy show; very upscale,” Hansen said. “I’m excited to bring an international flavor to the Wyandotte art scene.”

Gallery owner Patt Slack said she likes the show because it is something new for Wyandotte to experience.

"It is part of our mission as a community gallery to bring new things to the area and educate people," she said.

Yver uses many mediums in his work, including cardboard, paper and raw canvas. Slack said she loves his work, especially his sketches.

“It’s raw, it’s not refined," she said. "I think it’s beautiful.”

Hansen describes Yver’s work as contemporary and said Yver lends himself to Matisse and Picasso with his own twist. Hansen also said Yver’s work is Detroit influenced.

Yver connected with the Detroit area in 2008 through his art. French composer Nicolas Bacri was inspired by Yver’s art to write a composition for two cellos.

Nadine Deleury, principal cellist of the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra, performed the composition. She then further investigated the inspiration behind the piece.

Deleury contacted Yver and after many emails, visited him in his Paris studio. Deleury invited Yver to surround a concert at the Scarab Club in Detroit with some of his Mozart opera work. Yver accepted the invitation and found inspiration during his visit to Detroit.

Yver describes Detroit as an incredible city.

“Detroit, with its rich and industrial past, its contradictions and tensions, its geographical situation, its architectural diversity … has a powerful identity," he said in an email interview with Wyandotte Patch.

During his visit to Detroit, Yver met Professor Michael Farrell who is highly regarded in the metropolitan Detroit art community. Farrell introduced Yver’s work to Slack and Hansen. After seeing Yver’s work, Hansen wanted him to come back to the Detroit area.

“I saw the Paris show and thought that this work should be shown here," Hansen said. "Etienne swept me away."

Yver loves to work by traveling, meeting new people and painting in new places.

“Everyone has something new to give me, everyone is someone new to my eyes,” he said. “And then, I have something to say with my pencil or brush.”

Yver said artists have to build bridges between people, communities and artistic media, including music.

“Because music is an important part in my daily life and ‘inspiration,' its place in an art show seems to me totally natural,” he said. “I think that music can help to penetrate into the painting as painting can give the intimacy to understand music.”

Deleury, who also teaches cello at Oakland University, promised to play with Yver’s exhibit when she learned he was returning to the Detroit area. She will play cello at the opening reception on April 23 along with Velda Kelly on the violin.

Deleury and Kelly are co-artistic directors of Chamber Music at the Scarab Club. When they perform in the main gallery at the Scarab Club, they are always surrounded by works of art.

“Not only is it special for the audience to add a visual experience to the listening, but it is also inspiring for us musicians," Deleury said.

Deleury also compares Yver’s work to Picasso, with vibrant colors.

“Etienne is very creative and very young at heart,” Deleury said. “I find his paintings refreshing, with a very positive view on life.”

Yver said as an artist, his job is to find truth. He said it is a quest of love.

“It has to be respectful and has to leave everyone to their own devices, a hymn to liberty, equality and brotherhood,” Yver said. “More than ever we need this utopia, don’t you think?”

Hansen said the show will draw in people who would not normally come to Wyandotte as a destination.

And so, the artist who inspired a composer, who inspired a cellist across the world, will visit Wyandotte for new inspiration.

“I hope my work goes in this direction: connecting people," Yver said.

Yver's work will be on display at River’s Edge Gallery from April 15 to May 20. An artist reception will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. April 23 to coincide with Yver’s birthday.