I also make clothing …
As the founder of Extra Medium, I believe that stains, holes, and tears in clothing are great opportunities to tell stories...
If you’ve ever met me, you've noticed my collection of handkerchiefs.
In 2020, I visited my aunts and grandparents in Mexico for the first time in 20 years, it was the first time I realized that the use of a handkerchief was part of my heritage. My aunts teased me for carrying on the “tradition” of using a handkerchief like my dad, and his dad.
​When I was 16, my father gave me my first handkerchief. It wasn’t until 16 years later that I realized how much emotional value this pieces of cloth would carry. However torn and in poor condition, I still keep this handkerchief.
​We all keep that one garment for the memories it holds.
Extra Medium values above all sharing stories with people and in so doing, raising awareness of their relationship with clothing. Every garment has a story, but how can we keep track of these stories if our clothes only last one season?
​Extra Medium offers a tailoring service to help you care for your new and used clothes properly, and give them the long life they were designed for. The service includes the repair and refurbishment of all clothes.
If you have a project in mind...
WHO IS MANNY MANSTER?
I'm an artist, synonym for urban poet, city dweller, POZ radical faggot.
As a Mexican-American artist living with HIV, I grew skeptical of the institutionalized art world. As a two-time immigrant, I question my position in society.
My work is an investigation of personal social anxieties in an urban context, with an interest in chaos and imperfection.
While questioning the spectacle of perfection and my heritage, I explore the decolonization of my practice, ideals, and presentation within the Western world.
I make participatory and performative work, with a focus on community action. Engaging the viewer through divergent sexuality, gender, (de)colonization, and Mexican-American folklore.
