IVANMARIA VELE: June 2014

22.06.2014 PERFORMANCE IN MILAN

Igor Ramírez García-Peralta presents the first solo exhibition of Mexican transgender artist and performer Zemmoa, which will be shown in the relative privacy of a Milanese home. WHO'S WHO IN THE CAST addresses the issue of gender and gender-defining roles through a series of intervened banknotes that started as a cathartic escape for the artist, in the deepest hours of the night, after finishing her shifts as door selector at the M.N. Roy club, the nightlife temple of Mexico City.

Thanks to Zemmoa's humorous approach, her work results in a visual array of heroes, politicians, thinkers and warriors glorified with glitter, vivid colours and melancholic phrases that enhance the dual symbolism of a banknote: money as the key for the night, the passage to freedom and enjoyment; money as the backdrop for deep frustrations, unfulfilled dreams and solitude.

Born in Mexico City in 1986, Zemmoa is a composer, singer, producer and filmmaker who defines herself as an artist in constant learning. Dubbed Mexico City's "reigning disco queen" by OUT Magazine, Zemmoa began to dress as a girl in her teens, defying a still traditional society. This transformation process is a pivotal subject throughout her work.