Gender-Bending Art and Fashion in Veracruz

Prada videos, aliens, and transgender porn star selfies: all of the above were part of an awesomely weird art show last Thursday in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. The show, El Cuerpo Que Vestimos or The Body We Wear, featured video and performance art that challenged gender sterotypes, a refreshing break from the traditional photography and painting we usually see in this part of Mexico.

Fernán González Aramburu-Zurutuza, a friend, curated the show with the work of five different artists, including Juliana Huxtable of House of Ladosha, Hari Nef, and OC's Ignacio Torres. Held in the Jardin de Las Esculturas museum, the event started out with a video from Hari Nef featuring footage of a Prada fashion show dubbed with sassy commentary. Juliana Huxtable, meanwhile, showed photographs of herself embodying the roles of cyborg, priestess, witch, and trans-girl. Ignacio's photos, my favorites of the bunch, explored the stereotype of the homoerotic jock with photos of sweaty models surrounded by Gatorade bottles and Nike sneakers.

Fernán, the curator, also used fashion to explore larger social issues. With the help of indigenous craft artists from Chiapas and Veracruz, Fernán embroidered balaclavas, vests, and traditional huipil blouses with controversial buzzwords like indio (a word that means both indigenous and tacky in Spanish) and puta y además sin papeles (rough translation: a hooker and, on top of that, without papers). The result was a powerful commentary on racism in Mexico.

Other provocative work came from Buck Angel, a transgender porn star and artist. Born a biological woman, Buck began his career in the early 80s when he worked as a fashion model. After undergoing hormonal gender reassignment, he became a healthy, happy, and self-confident man and is now a famous fetish filmmaker. I could tell his photos, selfies of his naked body in the process of getting dressed, shocked some of the exhibit's attendees. But then again, what good art isn't a little shocking?

Elise Malo is an artist in Xalapa.

G-Series by IGNACIO TORRES. Modeled by OC's Jonathan ZeIzel
G-Series by Ignacio TorresClothing by Fernán González Aramburu-Zurutuza. Photo by Thanu Juárez & Alfredo Hernández

Clothing by Fernán Gonzalez Aramburu-Zurutuza. Photo by Thanu Juárez & Alfredo Hernández

Clothing by Fernán Gonzalez Aramburu-Zurutuza. Photo by Thanu Juárez & Alfredo Hernández
Clothing by Fernán Gonzalez Aramburu-Zurutuza. Photo by Thanu Juárez & Alfredo