Ana Mendieta

This exhibition centers on the work of Cuban-born US artist Ana Mendieta. The show emphasizes the manner in which her style evolved to place her at the forefront of a generation of innovative artists whose works erased the boundaries of convention within the world of exhibitions and art collecting. The retrospective also conveys the uniqueness of an artistic production that transformed Mendieta into a figure with undeniable influence in the history of contemporary art and in the talents emerging in the international art scene.

Despite an artistic career that was cut short too soon, Mendieta succeeded in becoming one of the most prolific Cuban artists when it comes to recreating Afro-Cuban rituals. She did so in performances that involved sculptural installations and actions that would rely on several elements—like blood—to underscore the human body. Since her untimely death in 1985 at the age of 35, her work has been shown in several important institutions, including the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C., the Whitney Museum, in New York, and the Fundación Tapiés in Barcelona, among others.

Traces is the title of the first retrospective exhibition by the Cuban artist in the United Kingdom. It includes videos, sculptures, photographs, drawings, personal writings and notebooks. There is also an entire exhibition room dedicated to research centered on Mendieta's work, including hundreds of slides that document never before seen creative moments that were part of her artistic process.

Following her exile from Cuba, at the age of 12 she was sent to an orphanage where she began to show an interest in researching her origins and identity. She left in her work traces of her body made with flowers, branches, clay, stone, sand, gunpowder and fire. Her work always expressed a desire to connect to the land and to establish a ritualistic relationship with nature.

This retrospective contemplates the reconstruction of the most important solo shows of her artistic career, like Silhouettes. The exhibition focuses on the powerful imaginary created by Mendieta and the critical potential of her work as it pertains to feminism, Land Art and her support of ethnic minorities.

More information is available at: http://artdaily.com/news/65171/Traces--The-UK-s-first-retrospective-of-Ana-Mendieta-s-work-opens-at-the-Hayward Gallery#.UkGldH9VZ76[/url]