Yves Scherer, "Mermaid II"
Executed 2015. Foam, lacquer, paint, and cowhide rug. Dimensions 150 x 66 x 66 cm.
Carl Kostyál, Stockholm.
Yves Scherer is an artist born in 1987 in Solothurn, Switzerland. He studied at the Royal College of Art in London and now resides in New York. His art focuses on merging personal narratives with fanfiction to explore the relationship between the private and the public, blurring the line between reality and virtuality.
Sherer's sculpture is part of a larger project in which he has made similar sculptures in polished metal. The model is the world-famous actress Emma Watson. In an interview with Norwegian Formue, he explained why she inspires him:
"The sculpture that has the body of a mermaid and the head of a young and short haired Emma Watson. It is part of a larger body of work of mine that takes her as a subject and deals with the implications and consequences of celebrity. The actress and outspoken advocat for gender equality here is portrayed as both an androgynous commanding figure and a male fantasy at the same time. In this way it plays with gender stereotypes while also forming a physical manifestation of the celebrity as a glossy surface for media and audience projections."
His recent solo exhibitions include: “Yves Scherer”, Tennis Elbow at The Journal Gallery, New York (2023), “Provence”, M. LeBlanc, Chicago (2023), “New York Minute”, Golsa, Oslo (2023), “Family Time”, Guido Baudach, Berlin (2021), “By Your Side”, Cassina Projects, New York (2021), “Leaves of Grass”, Golsa, Oslo (2020), “Candids”, Kunsthaus Grenchen, Grenchen (2020), and “Sunset”, Kunstverein Wiesen, Wiesen (2019).
From May to June 2024, Scherer had his first exhibition in Sweden at the gallery Carl Kostyál in Stockholm. He has received several awards, such as the Cahier d'Artistes from Pro Helvetia in 2016 and the Swiss Art Award at Art Basel in 2015, as well as the Förderpreis Bildende Kunst des Kanton Solothurn in 2012. He was also featured in Forbes "30 Under 30" in the category "Art & Design."