The Fales Library and Special Collections and The Department of Performance Studies, Tisch School of the Arts Present
Cuban-American artist Ana Mendieta (1948-1985) played a vital role in the development of multidisciplinary, feminist art. September 8, 2010 marks 25 years since her fatal fall, naked, from the window of the 34th floor apartment she shared with her husband of just eight months, the renowned sculptor Carl Andre. NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts directly overlooks the rooftop of the Delion delicatessen, the site of her violent end. The Fales Library at NYU contains the A.I.R. (Artist in Residence) Gallery Archive, with a significant number of Mendieta’s original works. Mendieta’s haunting proximity and continually felt presence at NYU make it the most appropriate locale for this Exhibition and Symposium. And, after 25 years, it is time to ask this question once again, Where is Ana Mendieta?*
The Exhibition and Symposium explore vital aspects of Mendieta’s iconoclastic earth, body, performance, site-specific and visual art works, while addressing her influences, legacy, and the era of feminist art from which she emerged. The Exhibit and Symposium also addresses the controversy surrounding her tragic death and what many believe to be Carl Andre’s unjust acquittal of her murder.
The exhibition includes Mendieta’s original works with archival documents from the A.I.R. Gallery Archives, courtesy of the Fales Library, and the film BloodWork by Richard Move.
* The Women’s Action Coalition mobilized approximately 500 protestors outside the Guggenheim Museum in Soho on its opening day in 1992, where Carl Andre’s works were on display. A group held a banner that read, “Carl Andre is in the Guggenheim. Where is Ana Mendieta?” In addition to this action outside, some protestors infiltrated the invitation only Gala opening and dropped copies of a photograph of Mendieta's face onto Andre's floor sculptures.
Co-sponsored by: CLACS - The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, CSGS - The Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, The Department of English, Grey Art Gallery - New York University, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics and Women & Performance