11/16-Artist-Ana Mendieta

Washington Post Article
Galerie Lelong
Hirshhorn

Ana Mendieta was a Cuban-American who was famous for her performance work exploring gender and cultural identity. She used her own body and the earth to create photographic, sculptural and video work. "The naked female form inserted in nature became a hallmark of her artistic production as she developed her own self-labeled genre of art, “earth-body art,” which can be described as a hybrid of two 1960s movements: earth art and body art" (hirshhorn). Her work is considered strongly feminist and auto-biographical in nature. She is always present in her work whether physically and literally or just but remains she has left behind.

I really enjoyed her use of the silueta. It is a concept that she grasped onto and ran with. Most of the work she is famous for is in this body of work. Her work is also highly experimental. She tried just about every medium she could get her hands on. I like how she blends into nature in some of her images. At times it is hard to tell whether the body is her or a sculptural representation.

I had a hard time researching information on her because she died very young. Her estate exists at Galerie Lelong, although they don't show much of her work. Her technique is very different from any of the work I have done but I really can relate to it. What I take from this...I need to experiment more. Use all types of mediums... How can I be present but not actually be in the image?

Untitled (body on Glass)

Untitled (Silueta Series), 1977
Lifetime color photograph
20 x 13 1/4 inches (50.8 x 33.7 cm)

Untitled (Facial Hair Transplants), 1972 (detail)
Estate print: 1997
Suite of 7 color photographs documenting performance with facial hair
12 3/4 x 19 1/8 inches (32.5 x 48.5 cm)