Yann Gerstberger (born 1983 in Cagnes sur Mer, France, lives and works in Mexico City, Mexico) is a French artist who since 2012 has lived in
Mexico City, where he has created a series of
textile tapestries developing narratives inspired by patterns from Mexican popular culture, art history, and nature. These works are produced with an original technique conceived by the artist: he glues cotton fibers (taken from mops) one by one onto vinyl in order to form colorful surfaces, which are then mixed with industrial fabric, preferably the patterned or textured ones he finds in the city's markets. The cotton fibers are dyed by hand, using a mixture of natural Mexican dyes such as cochineal, and industrial ones such as Citocol, the most basic dye available in the supermarket. Suggesting craftsmanship as a possible continuation of the
modernist pictorial project (he cites Picabia, Matisse, and Picasso as inspirations), Yann Gerstberger builds a vernacular vocabulary through his tapestries/paintings, one that references the “Fábulas Pánicas” of Jodorowsky, the fantasy of the tropical seen from Europe, post-graffiti, and the history of
abstraction along with its repertoire of ambiguous and mystical shapes.
