LEVEL 3, CONCOURSE
FRANCE, BORN 1983
LIVES AND WORKS IN MEXICO CITY
PROJECT
Yann Gerstberger’s Queen Niya Yoruba Corona xxx3 2018 and Queen Niya Yoruba Corona xxx2 2018 are part of an ongoing series of tapestries inspired by patterns found in Mexican popular culture, art history and nature. Citing Picabia, Matisse and Rousseau as his inspirations, Gerstberger suggests craftsmanship as a possible continuation of the modernist pictorial project. Through his tapestries, the artist builds a vernacular vocabulary referencing Alejandro Jodorowsky’s comics Fábulas Pánicas, tropical fantasy through a European lens, post-graffiti, and the history of abstraction including its repertoire of mystical shapes.
Gerstberger conceived the original technique used to produce these tapestries. It consists of forming colourful surfaces by gluing fibres of cotton mixed with industrial fabrics (preferably patterned or textured) on vinyl. The cotton fibres are dyed by hand, using a mixture of natural Mexican dyes such as cochineal, and industrial ones like Citocol, the most basic dye that can be found in the supermarket.
ABOUT
Yann Gerstberger is best known for his tapestry works, which he has been working on since 2012. Over the past ten years, he has exhibited in the United States, Peru, Mexico, Belgium, France and Switzerland. Gerstberger’s works are also in the permanent collections of the MATE Museum in Lima; the Kamel Lazaar Foundation in London and Tunis; the Perez Art Museum in Miami; and the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, among others.
The NGV warmly thanks Triennial Major Supporters Vivien & Graham Knowles and Katrina Knowles & Adam Karras for their support.