Ana Mendiera by Nicolas Candelaria. Ana Mendiera, born in Cuba, was a Cuban-American performance artist, sculptor, painter, and video artist who is best known for her earth-body artwork. She is considered one of the most influential Cuban-American artists of the post-World War II era. Still living in Havana, Mendiera left the United States in 1961. Petey Oda was born on November 18, 1948 in Havana, Cuba.
To a wealthy family, prominent in the country's politics and society, Ana, aged 12, and her 15-year-old sister, Raquelin, were sent to the United States by their parents to live in Dubuque, Iowa, throughout Operation Peter Pan, a program ran by the U.S. government and the Catholic Charities for Cuban Children to flee Fidel Castro's government. Ana and Raquelin were among 14,000 children. who migrated to the United States throughout the program in 1961. The sisters were able to stay together during this time due to a power of attorney signed by their parents, which mandated that they not be separated. The two sisters spent their first weeks in refugee camps and then moved between several institutions and foster homes throughout Iowa. In 1966, Mendiera was reunited with her mother and younger brother.
Her father joined them in 1979 having spent 18 years in a political prison in Cuba for his involvement in the Bay of Pigs invasion. Mendieta was first a French major and art minor, but when she transferred to the University of Iowa, she was inspired by the avant-garde community and the hills of Iowa's landscape. She earned a bachelor's and master's in painting and a Master of Fine Arts in Intermedia under the instruction of acclaimed artist Hans Bretter. In college, Mendieta's work focused on blood and violence towards women. Her interest in spiritualism, religion, and primitive rituals developed during this time.
After graduate school, she moved to New York City. In the course of her career, Mendieta created works in Cuba, Mexico, Italy, and the United States. Her work was somewhat autobiographical, drawing from her history of being displaced from her native Cuba, and focused on themes including feminism, violence, life, death, identity, place, and belonging.
Many of her works included of formal outdoor performances and photographs. sculptures, and drawings. Her works are generally associated with the four classical elements. Mendieta often focused on a spiritual and physical connection with the earth.
She felt that by uniting her body with the earth, she could become whole again. During her lifetime, Mendieta produced over 200 works of art using earth as a sculptural medium, her techniques were mainly influenced by Afro-Cuban traditions. Probably the most shocking thing for me would be her death.
Ana Mendiara died on September 8th, 1985 in New York City. After falling from her 31st floor apartment, she lived with her husband of eight months, minimalist sculptor Carl Andre. The circumstances surrounding her death have been the subject of the controversy. She fell 33 stories into the roof of a deli.
Just prior to her death, neighbors heard the couple arguing violently. The neighbors heard Nindyada scream out, No! right before her death, and Andre had scratches all over his face.
There were no eyewitnesses. to the events that led up to Mendieta's death. A recording of Andre's 9-11 call showed him saying, my wife is an artist and I am an artist and we had a quarrel about the fact that I was more exposed to the public than she was and she went to the bedroom and I went after her and she went out the window. During three years of legal proceedings, Andre's lawyer described Mendieta's death as a possible accident or suicide.
After a non-jury trial, Andrea was acquitted of second-degree murder in February of 1988. Ana Mendieta has been in a constant struggle her entire life. From separating from her family to oppression and discrimination, but her art and hard work showed me that even under those circumstances, you can thrive and succeed no matter what. Always fight for what you believe in and you will succeed.