Yassine Mekhnache

Yassine Mekhnache is a self-taught painter born in Lyon, France, in 1979. He currently lives and works in Paris, France. Mekhnache emerged as a graffiti artist in the early 2000’s, later developing a more classical painting technique using more traditionally established materials. In 2007, Mekhnache started painting on canvases of woven cotton, hand-made by women embroiderers in Tamesloht near Marrakech in Morocco and by embroiderers from Pondicherry in India. His works are hybrids combining the delicacy of religious embroidery with vibrant expressive painted elements. In these paintings, Mekhnache also incorporates elements drawn with marker pen and dripping paint evoking a spirit found in his earlier street works. Mekhnache calls these works “La Conférence des Oiseaux” (The Conference of the Birds), a reference to 12th Century poem by Sufi philosopher and poet Farid ud-Din Attar. Mekhnache’s work can be found in various public and private collections around the world.