Ana Mendieta:
Earth Body
Sculpture and Performance
1972-85
October 2, 2005 – January 15, 2006
Upper Level Gallery
This comprehensive exhibition examines
the brief yet prolific career of Ana Mendieta, and includes
more than 100 works from numerous public and private collections
in the United States, Europe and Latin America. Born in Havana,
Cuba in 1948, Mendieta was relocated with her sister to Iowa
in1961 as part of “Operation Pedro Pan.” They were
among fourteen thousand children whose political asylum in
the United States was facilitated by the Catholic Church in
response to Cuba’s Communist revolution. Her personal
and professional development was greatly informed by the experience
of exile as well as the intersection of Caribbean and North
American cultures. Incorporating her own body into multimedia
and performance-based works, Mendieta used art to reconnect
with her cultural roots and to explore universal spiritual
themes. Although she was only 36 when she died in 1985, she
left a rich artistic legacy that has influenced subsequent
generations of artists.
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Ana Mendieta Untitled (Body Tracks), 1974, Lifetime color photograph,
10 x 8 in. Copyright of the Estate of Ana Mendieta
Collection, courtesy Galerie Lelong, New York
Ana Mendieta: Earth Body, Sculpture and
Performance 1972-1985 was organized by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture
Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. and curated
by Olga Viso. The exhibition is made possible by The Henry
Luce Foundation, the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered
by the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives, The Andy
Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Bruce T. Halle Family
Foundation, and The Judith Rothschild Foundation. Initial research
was supported by Craig Robins and a Curatorial Research Fellowship
from the Getty Grant Program. Additional support for the exhibition
catalog was made possible through the generosity of Carlos
and Rosa de la Cruz and Isabel and Ricardo Ernst.
In Miami, the exhibition is supported
by Miami Art Museum's Annual Exhibition Fund and is coordinated
by Assistant Director for Special Projects/Curator Lorie
Mertes and Curatorial Research Assistant René Morales.
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