Bárbara Sánchez-Kane's Debut Solo Show 'New Lexicons for Embodiment' Opens In New York

The conversation of self-expression in art isn't new. The direction Bárbara Sánchez-Kane is taking her practice in, however, is. Exploring the de-construction of identity, Sánchez-Kane (who goes by both he and she pronouns) is known to make political statements by playing with fashion and sculpture, traversing many artistic mediums to explore race, gender and class as they do so.

Ever since founding her eponymous label in 2016, the designer has confronted society's rigid structures by defining fashion, gender and art conventions in Mexico and abroad. Whether through fashion, installation, painting, performance, poetry or other, the roots of their work are anchored in questioning hegemonic masculinity and its manifestation in everyday life.

Sometimes abstract and constricting, other times immensely freeing, Sánchez-Kane's work has one purpose: to uncover how we experience the world and interact with reality, a motif taken to new heights in the artist's solo debut show New Lexicons for Embodiment at New York's Kurimanzutto Gallery, opening to the public on 14 September.

Perpetual tearing and fracturing of traditional garment structures are core themes to the artist's work, methods seen in examples throughout New Lexicons for Embodiment. Speaking of the ideas that laid the building blocks for the exhibition to take form, Sánchez-Kane told SHOWstudio, 'The exhibition articulate(s) the nuances of human embodiment and reimagine the wearer's intimate relationship with clothing. It adapts a fashion-focused standpoint but posits itself outside of the fashion world's structure and the system from which it operates.'

New Lexicons for Embodiment will see Sánchez-Kane focus on the clothed body as an interphase with which we experience and move through the world, honing in on the role played by clothes as a channel for the performance of the self – be it sexualised, racialised, or gendered. Including a wide range of work, deformed 'experimental structures' (referred to as 'monsters' by the artist) sit next to three hanging aluminium sculptures - all created as a reaction to the dress form fitting system. When put together, these works challenge notions that many of us silently, or even unconsciously abide by when it comes to the notion of dressing.

A pop-up store held within the exhibit will also feature items from Sánchez-Kane's fashion line specifically made for this exhibition. Make sure to bring your wallets as these items will also be available for sale, as the move replaces the artist's involvement in traditional fashion weeks - wishing to move away from the industry tradition by displaying a collection outside of these avenues.

Although many 21st-century designers rightfully believe clothing shouldn't be gendered, society has always played by a different set of rules, setting aside Sánchez-Kane's gender-bending practice from her contemporaries. Sánchez-Kane's non-conforming work isn't just relevant in today's fashion landscape. It's part of a wider conversation. One that's slowly moulding fashion's future into a better, more cohesive society that will hopefully, one day, see far beyond the rigid boxes we've called gender for thousands of years.