“Manos Mexicanas” Nowhere are these invisible frontiers as present as in our daily interactions with workers of immigrant communities who may or may not be here legally. Ana de la Cueva’s Manos Mexicanas (2017) is a series of documentary photographs that frame the hands of fellow Mexicans living in New York City. These are not the hands we are accustomed to in traditional portraiture reflecting leadership or poise; what you see is the grit of hard working hands. The straightforward photographs arise from casual encounters, whether in a restaurant, a deli, at the gym or on the streets. It is a tribute to the people who crank the nuts and bolts of this sanctuary city and a moving response to hardline immigration rhetoric and the current crack down on undocumented immigrants. The fact that we cannot see their faces imbues the anonymous hands with the whiff of invisibility, both imposed and sought, something the subjects live with on a daily basis. The roots tied to community are manifest in tattoos of the Mexican Sun Stone and the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico’s spiritual protector and a potent nationalist symbol. Text extracted from the exhibition Hybrid Topographies – Encounters from Latin America by Monica Espinel February 13 – July 16, 2018 60 Wall Gallery | Deutsche Bank | 60 Wall Street, NYC 10005 Monica Espinel is an independent curator and writer from Colombia based in New York City