Bárbara Sánchez-Kane deconstructs and dissects notions of masculinity through fashion, performance, sculpture, and painting. In Prêt-à-Patria (2021), Sánchez-Kane designs and creates a new military uniform and orchestrates a performance that results in a video and sculptural installation. Taking its title from the French fashion term prêt-à-porter, or ready-to-wear, and introducing the Spanish-language concept of patria (homeland), the work alters the military image of the state to comment on the hegemonic symbols of masculinity and power it puts forward. Based on the militia ritual of safeguarding and honouring the national flag known in Mexico as Escolta de Bandera (Flag escort), the performance features a group of men who practice this ceremony wearing Sánchez-Kane’s version of the military uniform with an open back exposing fitted lace lingerie. Juxtaposing masc and femme garments on the bodies of military men, Prêt-à-Patria presents itself as a salacious and sardonic take on Mexican nationalism, state reverence, and its violent indoctrination of identities.
This is the first time the work of Bárbara Sánchez-Kane is presented at Biennale Arte.
—José Esparza Chong Cuy
