The
Ana Mendieta exhibition.
In search of the origin
, at the MUSAC in León, deserves attention for what it offers, but also for what it expressly omits.
To her credit, an exhaustive compilation of works by the Cuban-American artist Ana Mendieta (Havana, 1948-New York, 1985) that establish her as a pioneer of eco-feminist art, today quite widespread, but then in a preliminary state. .
However, the most virulent and dangerous part of Mendieta's work, his blood rituals reminiscent of Viennese actionism passed through the filter of Afro-Caribbean religions or his shocking
Rape Scene
(1973), remain outside the Leonese museum, as do make the circumstances of his death.
If the visitor did not know in advance that Mendieta died after falling from the 34th floor of a Greenwich Village skyscraper where she lived with her husband, also the artist Carl Andre (who died, by the way, three days before this inauguration), and that he was accused of murder, but that the subsequent trial exonerated him due to lack of evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, you would not hear about it here either.
The chronology of the brochure, which details the different biographical stages, reports that “Mendieta died on September 8, 1985,” without further details.
Portrait of Raquel Cecilia Mendieta (New York, 1972).
The same occurs in this interview with Raquel Cecilia Mendieta (New York, 1972), niece of the artist and visible head of her legacy, as well as a filmmaker who has directed several documentary pieces about her, who has traveled to León for the inauguration of the sample.
The circumstances of her aunt's death are excluded from the conversation, as this journalist was previously and insistently warned.
It is understood the desire to avoid the sensationalist approaches or the emphasis on the dramatic event that often tarnishes the work of a fundamental artist of the second half of the 20th century.
But the interviewee will not answer any questions related to Carl Andre – including strictly artistic ones – nor to the feminist groups that keep Ana Mendieta's memory alive and demand justice for her death.
In return, throughout the talk several clichés about the personality, life course and work of the artist are dismantled.
For example, Ana Mendieta has always been accompanied by an aura of gravity, even tension, when much of her work can be interpreted from irony and suggests a caustic sense of humor.
“Yes, she was very ingenious and sagacious,” agrees Raquel Cecilia Mendieta.
“She always came up with sharp comments.
You can see that humor in some of her work, especially at the beginning, although later she became more serious.
But she was still playful.
For example, her work
De ella Sandwoman
[there are several pieces from this 1983 series in the exhibition] referred a little to when you played in the sand as a child.
They say that her body keeps memories of those experiences, and for her, remembering them was healing.”
The origin mentioned in the title here takes on several meanings.
On the one hand, it emphasizes the section dedicated to the artist's beginnings and the rarely shown paintings of her, made when she was still a student.
But it also alludes to her constant search for her roots.
Raquel Cecilia Mendieta explains: “We were interested in showing the entire path from the beginning to the end, but there is also a dual meaning in that, because Ana's work sought the origin.
In it appears the cycle of life: birth, death and rebirth.”
'Anima' (1982).
Courtesy The Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection, LLC and Galerie Lolong & CO.MUSAC
Coming from an upper-middle-class Cuban family with artistic interests, the Castro revolution caused Ana Mendieta, when she was twelve years old, to be evacuated to the United States along with her older sister Raquel, Raquelín, Raquel Cecilia's mother.
They had been assured that this situation would be temporary, but that was not the case.
Suddenly, both had been living in Iowa for several years, and there was little prospect of returning to their native country.
“That was a very traumatic experience for them, because they thought they were going to be in the United States only for a while, as was usually done every time there was a revolution in Cuba,” recalls Raquel Cecilia Mendieta.
"But that dragged on, then their father was imprisoned by the new regime and at a certain point it became clear that they were not going to return, which was dramatic because they were never able to say goodbye to their family, their parents, uncles, grandparents and cousins. .
That's something that never goes away.
In fact, my mother is still fractured by it.”
The two sisters discovered that they themselves were the most important thing they had: “My mother says that they were sisters and best friends, but at times also mother and daughter, roles that were exchanged as needed.”
'Untitled: Silueta Series' (1978-2024).
The two sisters studied art, although Ana soon attracted attention with her videos and
performances
, after completing her graduate studies at the University of Iowa. Arriving in Mexico in 1971 to visit some archaeological excavations was a way to get closer to her roots, despite the different that in principle Mexico and Cuba are socially and culturally.
“Ana fell in love with Mexico,” says the artist's niece.
She said that until then she hadn't realized how much she missed hearing her own language.
Plus, the people there looked more like her physically, so she didn't feel displaced, unlike what happened in Iowa, where no one was like her.
She loved her people and her art: she was a great admirer of Frida Kahlo's work, for example.
There she created important works.
She kept coming back, again and again, until 1980, the year of her return to Cuba.”
After the lifting of the travel ban to his native country, he would return to Cuba on a recurring basis in order to reconnect with his family, but also to work.
She was, in fact, the first exile to obtain permission to create art in Cuba.
Perhaps the most relevant thing that she carried out there were some sculptural interventions in the Jaruco caves, near Havana, which are currently quite depleted.
But, as Raquel Cecilia points out, this was planned: “Some of those works have disappeared and others are still there, although partly reabsorbed by nature.
That seemed fine to her.
Although at that time she was also investigating how to make outdoor works that were permanent, and I think it was precisely as a result of that experience.”
At the end of her days she was experimenting with bronze, perhaps as part of this research.
Work 'Nañigo Burial'.IMAGENMASFCC
In 1983, after having obtained the Prix de Rome awarded by the American Academy in Rome, he moved to the Italian capital, where he continued working on his iconic
Silhouettes
.
He did not seem to show any influence from the classical artistic repertoire, but instead fell back on the pre-Columbian forms that he had discovered in Mexico.
“In Rome he continued doing what he did before,” admits his niece.
“She said that she wasn't much influenced by the art she saw there, but that she was influenced by the architecture.
She bought many books, took photos and traveled to archaeological sites.
And she tried to maintain a dialogue with all of it.”
Faced with the image that often presents her as an irrational personality or far from erudition, it is also worth highlighting her intellectual and academic side.
She wrote numerous texts – essays and poetry –, was an art teacher in the North American public education system, and was able to communicate in French and Italian, as well as Spanish and English.
“Ana curated an exhibition about isolation [
Dialectics of Isolation: An Exhibition of Third World Women Artists in the United States
, at the AIR gallery in New York in 1980, along with fellow artists Kazuko Miyamoto and Zarina].
That was a very important experience.
Not only did she create art, but she also participated in round tables, and she traveled to different universities to give talks and workshops and work with students.
As a teacher, she said that you are never too young to learn about art, that even the youngest child should do it.
“She believed that children should be taught art history in the same way they are taught language or mathematics.”
View of the exhibition 'Ana Mendieta.
In search of the origin', MUSAC, 2024.
—Do you think the best was yet to come for her?
- Maybe yes.
She got to do a lot of good jobs, you know?
But it is true that his work was becoming more and more ambitious.
—What is Ana Mendieta's legacy today?
— They say that Ana is an artist's artist.
Artists love her work, because she is very authentic.
It wasn't something fake, nor was she after fame and glory.
What she did was because she had to do it, and artists respect that.
Young people today see her work and say: “Wow, look at what she did, so young and so daring.”
—When do you think you will finish the feature-length documentary that you have been making about her for years,
Rebel by Nature
?
— I'm trying to raise the funds to finish it, because feature films are difficult to finance.
I already have a lot of material, and I have interviewed many people who knew her.
I hope that next year we can have it.
And exhibit it in Spain.
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