Anahí González’s artistic practice explores migration, Mexican labour, and identity with questions relating to commerce, systems of power and the event of photography through the mediums of photography, installations, and participatory practices.
By engaging with different industries that connect today’s Mexico and Canada, such as the automotive industry, agriculture, and others, González highlights in the exhibition “used as a material in the production of another” how systems of power perceive Mexican labour as mobile, multi-purpose, and temporary. Originally from Saltillo, Mexico, a sister city of Windsor, Ontario, González reflects this connection in some of the photographs and the participatory artwork “Employee of the Month, and The Next One, and The Next One…” (2024).
The title of the show, “used as a material in the production of another,” references the bilingual artifact “Anti-Humboldt: A Reading of NAFTA” by Hugo García Manríquez. In the words of the Mexican writer, Cristina Rivera Garza, he “teaches us to find the political in the poetic and the poetic in the political.”
Opening reception: Friday, July 12, 7–10pm, featuring a live performance by the artist.
Artist Talk: Saturday, July 13, 2pm, followed by a group conversation and activity, and preceded by a live performance by the artist (12pm).
Anahí González is a Mexican photographer based in London, Canada. She holds a BA in Communication Studies (Mexico) and an MFA from Western University (Canada). She is currently an Art and Visual Culture Ph.D. candidate at Western University (Canada). Her work has been included in exhibitions and screenings in countries such as Mexico, Canada, the USA, Norway, Spain, and France.