Ana Mendieta (sorry pictures wouldn't post!)

I read ‘Silueta’ of a Woman: Sizing up Ana Mendieta, by Blake Gopnik which was written for the Washington post. In this article, Gopnik discusses Ana Mendieta’s new exhibit at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum. Ana grew up in Cuba with her family. But when Fidel Castro took reign, her parents sent her and her sister to the United States where they stayed in monasteries. Ana and her sister were very lively, which led to being beaten by the nuns. After being kicked out of various foster homes and monasteries, their family finally came to America. They lived in Iowa, where Ana studied and later taught art.
As a young woman,Ana had a relationship with Hans Breder. They traveled the world together and explored new forms of art. During her time with Hans, Ana began to experiment with her ideas of the body and life. She moved to New York, and ended up dating and marrying Carl Andres, the famous minimalist artist.

Ana’s life was cut short when at the age o 37,she “jumped” from Andres’ 34th floor apartment in New York City. Andres was arrested for her murder but was acquitted even though the public denies his innocence (I sure do!). Ana’s work has since become famous and is shown at various wonderful museums throughout the world.Gopnik begins his article stating that if one boils down art, all and any art, to its purest essence, it's nothing more than a gesture that affirms the human ego. Gopnik believes that the point of art is for the artist to do something that leaves a mark upon the world. All of art's other goals; functions and aspects -pleasing gods, creating beauty crafting a commodity or exploring an idea -come after that blunt fact. According to him, any masterpiece and every piece of schlock as well, has at its heart the graffiti artist's tag, "Yo, I'm Michelangelo." "Picasso was here!" "This is Pollock's turf." Or even "Feast them eyes on Grandma Moses." This may be true but it is a one sided and very shallow commentary on art. This sort of declaration simplifies the process of the artist and their work. It also serves to make Gotnik look shallow. When I first read that paragraph, I expected the author to be an ignorant artinterpreter, describing the male ego.

As I continued reading, it is obvious that Gotnik understands Mendieta’s work and sees her work as a step above the common, ego driven artist. he describes Mendieta’s work and her statements about feminism and where her roots have brought her. “Few artists have ever captured that fundamental, peculiar essence of art as powerfully as Ana Mendieta.” (Gotnik) As a huge Mendieta fan, I was impressed with the way he described her artwork. The author discusses the reason for Mendieta creating art and even saying that the impulse in her work is similar to “objects produced by an Old Master.” And I completely agree, I think that Ana is an artistic genius.

Link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A35164-2004Oct15?language=printer