Amy Sara Carroll's 'ReMex' Analyzes NAFTA-Era Border Art and Cultural Identity

Amy Sara Carroll's book 'ReMex: Toward an Art History of the NAFTA Era' examines feminist and Chicano art from the 1990s, centered in Mexico City and border regions. Carroll argues that aesthetics and politics intertwine to express 'Greater Mexico,' a concept redefining Mexico as an imaginary beyond geographic limits. She links market liberalization under NAFTA to denationalization, viewing border art addressing race and gender as a multicultural utopia. Carroll critiques how NAFTA's economic impacts paralleled the commercialization of 'post-Mexican' art by curators and artists leveraging state support for global recognition. She insists art must actively resist 'NAFTAfication' and colonial heteropatriarchy, advocating for 'ReMexing' Mexico to reclaim cultural identity. The article, published by Irmgard Emmelhainz on June 1, 2021, notes content availability through MIT Press under subscription access. Carroll's analysis frames aesthetic practice as a direct weapon against neoliberal and patriarchal structures, questioning cosmopolitanism in contemporary art.