Symbolic Reparations, Buchonas, and Gore Capitalism in Mayra Martell’s Gore (2017) and Chulada (2018)

Peate, A. 2025. Forthcoming. Symbolic Reparations, Buchonas, and Gore Capitalism in Mayra Martell’s Gore (2017) and Chulada (2018). in: Fiona Noble and Nadia Albaladejo Garcia (ed.) Alternative Voices: Curating Femininity in Hispanic Art (1920-2020) Palgrave Macmillan.

Chapter titleSymbolic Reparations, Buchonas, and Gore Capitalism in Mayra Martell’s Gore (2017) and Chulada (2018)
AuthorsPeate, A.
EditorsFiona Noble and Nadia Albaladejo Garcia
Abstract

Peate explores the ways Mexican photographer Mayra Martell (1979, Ciudad Juárez) draws attention to direct and indirect, systemic gender violence as experienced by women who associate themselves with the drugs trade in northern Mexico through their romantic relationships. It considers two components (Gore, 2017 and Chulada, 2018) of Martell’s photography project Buchonas (2017-present) which foreground violence, fashion, femininity, and power in Sinaloa State’s capital city, Culiacán.
Martell’s buchonas – the partner or aspiring partner of the narco - represent liminal stories: the aesthetically striking feminisation of narcoculture remains an under-researched popular subculture for women. Peate’s chapter considers Martell’s creative processes while living amongst this seemingly empowered group in relation to the stilted move towards symbolic reparation for women victims of gender violence in Mexico. It questions to what extent Martell’s photography contributes to the healing intended by such reparations in a meaningful manner despite the spectatorial nature of the photograph by provoking questions on gender and power (im)balances.

KeywordsGore capitalism
buchonas
symbolic reparations
liminality
beauty
power
violence
Book titleAlternative Voices: Curating Femininity in Hispanic Art (1920-2020)
Year2025
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan

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