Ana Mendieta: in pictures

Sean O'Hagan

Saturday, 21 Sep 2013

# Art

# Feminism

# Photography

Cuban artist Ana Mendieta died mysteriously in 1985. Here are some of the dark, ritualistic images she left behind

Gallery

Untitled (Blood and Feathers), 1974 by Ana Mendieta — **Untitled (Blood and Feathers), 1974** "Cuban-born and American-raised, Ana Mendieta described her work as 'earth-body' art," writes Sean O'Hagan. "From 1971, when she had her first solo show, until her death in 1985, she created a diverse collection of work that included subversive self-portraits that played with notions of beauty, belonging and gender." Photograph: Courtesy Galerie Lelong, New York and Paris and Alison Jacques Gallery, London

Untitled Facial Hair Transplant, Moustache (1972) by Ana Mendieta — **Untitled Facial Hair Transplant, Moustache (1972)** "In her photographic self-portraits, she pressed her face against glass to distort her features or pictured herself dripping in blood or disguised as a man with glued-on facial hair." Photograph: Courtesy Galerie Lelong, New York and Paris and Alison Jacques Gallery, London

Untitled (Grass on Woman), 1972 by Ana Mendieta — **Untitled (Grass on Woman), 1972** "She evoked the power of female sexuality as well as the horror of male sexual violence." Photograph: Courtesy Galerie Lelong, New York and Paris and Alison Jacques Gallery, Londo

Tree of Life by Ana Mendieta — **Tree of Life, 1976** "Friends described Mendieta variously as 'sparky', 'provocative', 'tempestuous', 'outspoken' and 'fiercely ambitious'." Photograph: Whitney Museum of Art

Untitled, 1973 by Ana Mendieta — **Untitled, 1973** "After her death, many saw, in her often dark and ritualistic art, a foreshadowing of her fate – she once staged a performance in which visitors came upon her prone under a blood-spattered white sheet." Photograph: Courtesy Galerie Lelong, New York and Paris and Alison Jacques Gallery, London

Imagen de Yagul, 1973 by Ana Mendieta — **Imagen de Yagul, 1973** "Mendieta's performance pieces evoked the folk and occult traditions of her native Cuba as well as her beloved Mexico." Photograph: Courtesy Galerie Lelong, New York and Paris and Alison Jacques Gallery, London

Ana Mendieta in 1984 — **Mendieta with an untitled wood sculpture, 1984** "It is only now that the power of her art is finally taking precedence over the stereotypes that were thrust upon her and the darkly dramatic manner of her death." Photograph: PR

Contributor

Sean O’Hagan

Sean O’Hagan writes about photography for the Guardian and the Observer, and is also a general feature writer

Sean O'Hagan

Saturday, 21 Sep 2013

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