Tania Candiani (b. 1974, Mexico)
Guadalajara, México. 9 de marzo 2021.
Marcha del 8M. II de la serie Manifestantes, 2022
Cotton thread sewn on cotton canvas, high-density acrylic paint, and acrylic sealer
Manila, Filipinas, 23 de febrero 2018.
Marcha para frenar la cultura de la violación, de la serie Manifestantes, 2022
Cotton thread sewn on cotton canvas, high-density acrylic paint, and acrylic sealer
These two works are part of the Manifestantes series, which begun in 2019, during feminist protests in Mexico referred to as the “glitter revolution,” when thousands of women marched against targeted violence of women, initially provoked by reports of the rape a teenage girl by the police. The artist creates portraits of protestors using thread on cotton fabric, based on images taken from social media. Red fabric and paint with white thread is used for portraits of individual women protestors and black for group portraits. Candiani describes her use of sewing as a gesture toward amplifying these representations and the outrage of these women, a form of “drawing out loud.” With the site of each specific protest identified in the titles the works, the artist’s project has grown to include feminist protests currently taking place across the world.
Tania Candiani (b. 1974, Mexico)
Lipo Front and Back, from the series Gordas, 2002–05
Acrylic paint, charcoal, and cotton thread sewn on canvas
Several works engaging the bare human body address the issues of vulnerability, identity, and societal perceptions, most dramatically represented by a gigantic diptych by Tania Candiani. Part of her Gordas series (2002-05), which focuses on the problems of women’s self-image, related to their bodies and the industries that promote idealized, unrealistically thin female physiques, this piece presents a front and a back view of the same elder-looking woman. Rendered in embroidery on canvas, the diptych is based on photographs used by plastic surgeons to mark the areas they recommend incisions to be made during liposuction procedures. The artist has instead used the markings to fill the canvas with cotton stuffing, creating a voluminous portrait of a woman submitting herself to this invasive weight-reduction process.