Lesdavag

El Macho Menos tells the story of Lesdavag’s past as a first-generation Mexican-American growing up in a family heavily shaped by machismo culture. 

Rooted in patriarchal gender roles, conservative religious influence, conflicting familial values, and the impact of emotional and physical violence, this exhibition navigates the nuances of identity, struggle, and autonomy. Each of Lesdavag’s pieces serve as memorials; they solemnly honor his experience of being raised by a domineering father, bound to machismo culture, and a strong and patient mother, both a heroine and a victim. His work combines intimate detail with widely recognized symbols of Mexican culture, wrestling with the concept of identity across an ambitious spectrum that ranges from the individual to the collective.

Many of the works’ titles are common Mexican expressions. By borrowing threads of shared language, Lesdavag collages idioms to articulate unspeakable feelings—inadequacy, fear, gratitude, grief. And just as their titles communicate experience through metaphor, these pieces reassemble the cultural symbols and systems to which he is attached; they illustrate the evolution of his selfhood, and their figurative nature makes them both relatable and endurable.

— Leah Clancy

Photo: Carlos Rugal

Visits by appointment. Contact: 55 28 91 12 42