Ana Segovia: Aunque Me Espine la Mano

Ana Segovia (*1991) lives and works in Mexico City. His work questions the prevailing narratives of masculinity, particularly those propagated by the enduring influence of the film industry and the Western.

Segovia draws on well-known images from the golden age of Mexican cinema and the western genre, intervening in their forms, changing their tonality and alienating them. In her video Aunque Me Espine la Mano (2021), two charros (Mexican cowboys) can be seen in tailor-made traditional suits. The two protagonists playfully stage rituals of masculinity that reveal the artificiality and performativity of the construction of gender and nationality and invite the viewer to rethink the dynamics within male-dominated environments. The traditional clothing in bright colors was designed by the grandson of the tailor of Jorge Negrete, a legendary film star of the 1940s, the epitome of the "Charro Mexicano", who still embodies the idea of masculinity in Mexico today.