Bárbara Sánchez-Kane (b. 1987, Mérida, Mexico) resists traditional notions of Mexican machismo through her ethos of the macho sentimental: a person who does not deny their natural impulses towards feminine and masculine forms of expression. Whether using her unisex fashion label Sánchez-Kane, or her installation, painting, performance, poetry, and sculpture practices, all of her works question hegemonic masculinity, the social construction of gender and sexual identity, and the ways in which each present themselves in daily life.
Often addressing the role fashion plays in aiding these identities, Sánchez-Kane appropriates everyday objects and items of clothing that surround her to deconstruct, rebuild, and imbue them with new meaning. The outcome becomes a conceptual exchange between art and fashion that neutralizes the binary associations of objects, bodies, and symbols and underscores their performative nature.
Among Sánchez-Kane’s most recent group exhibitions are Nuestrxs Putxs, Human Resources, Los Angeles (2021); De por Vida, Company Gallery, New York (2021); En llamas, Llano, Mexico City (2021); Otrxs Mundxs, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2020–2021); SEÑORA!, Meyer Kainer Galerie, Austria (2020); and Prince/sses des villes, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2019).
Bárbara Sánchez-Kane lives and works in Mexico City.
