To accurately analyze the works of Ana Mendieta, one thing needs to be defined: The female equivalent to the word “phallic.” The artist, whose career retrospective recently opened at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, was not only that of a performance artist, but also an enthusiastic feminist. Her artwork involves spiritual themes and distinctly recognizable feminine shapes. (That word, by the way, is “yonic.”)
“Ana Mendieta: Earth Body, Sculpture and Performance 1972-1985” is indicative of an artist’s creative development in its inaugural stages. Walking through the exhibit, which features several of the artist’s student works, one gets a sense of Mendieta’s attempt to gain her footing as a student at the University of Iowa. Through photographs and videos of performances, viewers can see how Mendieta altered her appearance in early student projects. With the use of natural elements such as hair, blood and feathers, she can become an abuse victim, a man, or even a bird. Animal blood, which she usually obtained from a butcher, is a common theme in her work – she smears it all over herself and the canvas, pours it on the earth, or even leaves it on the sidewalk for the purpose of photographing the reactions of passersby.
Eventually, Mendieta finds her footing in the “Silueta Series,” leaving imprints of her naked body in various outdoor locations in Iowa. Lowering herself into a hole after pouring animal blood on a rock to represent a heart, a video projection captures the outline of Mendieta’s naked form. While there is definitely a degree of intimacy lost between witnessing the video medium and seeing Mendieta actually drench her naked body in blood and roll in feathers, The Hirshhorn tries to rectify this by featuring a few artifacts from the artist’s performances, such a piece with a body-shaped ring of candles, and an excavated cement pit which was once used to burn gunpowder in a performance.
Mendieta’s feminism is displayed through the shape of her body and the image of a fertility goddess. These shapes unmistakably echo the aforementioned female answer to the male phallic image; they are yonic. Mendieta is extremely focused on this imagery – perhaps even too focused. Later in her career, the shape appears in nearly every work of art in the collection. Drawn on leaves, carved in trees and burned into the earth, it quickly becomes repetitive.
While today it is impossible to gain the true effect of Mendieta’s performances in person, this video exhibit is as close as one can get. And there is one major advantage: watching videos of her art is definitely less messy.
“Ana Mendieta: Earth Body, Sculpture and Performance 1972-1985” will be at the Hirshhorn Museum (Independence Avenue at 7th Street, N.W.) until Jan. 2, 2005.
