Mail Order Brides (M. O. B.)

Eliza “Neneng” Barrios, Reanne “Immaculata” Estrada and Jenifer “Babs” Wofford work collaboratively as Mail Order Brides/M.O.B., a trio of Filipina American artists engaged in an ongoing conversation with culture and gender. While the term “mail order bride” is often shorthand for an obedient domestic partner, it is also true that “Mail Order Bride” abbreviates to a far more sinister acronym that informs the darker subtext of their operations. Taking matters into their own well-manicured hands, M.O.B. deploys their innate charm, guile, and fine fashion sense to gently pry open the eyes of the closed-minded. Enforced enlightenment has arrived in the form of karaoke videos and museum makeovers, in photographic psychodramas and parade performances, in bridesmaid entrepreneurships and corporate dominations. M.O.B. “hits” have been presented in California at the Asian Art Museum, de Young Museum, YBCA, and Southern Exposure (San Francisco); San Jose Museum of Art, Drive-By Cinema (San Diego); and at McColl Center (Charlotte, North Carolina), 1A Space (Hong Kong), Green Papaya Art Projects and the Manila Biennale (Manila, Philippines).

Members:

• Eliza O. Barrios
• Reanne Estrada
• Jenifer Wofford

Programs:

• P L A C E: Reckonings by Asian American Artists