Ana Mendieta
| Ana Mendieta | |
|---|---|
_1972.jpg)
Untitled (Facial Hair Transplants), 1972
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| Born |
November 18, 1948 Havana, Cuba |
| Died | September 8, 1985 (aged 36) New York City, New York |
| Nationality | Cuban American |
| Known for | Performance art, sculpture, video art |
| Spouse(s) | Carl Andre |
Ana Mendieta (November 18, 1948 – September 8, 1985) was a Cuban American performance artist, sculptor, painter and video artist who is best known for her "earth-body" artwork. Born in Havana, Mendieta arrived in the United States as a refugee in 1961, two years after Marxist revolutionary leader Fidel Castro overthrew the authoritarian government of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista.
Mendieta was born in Havana, Cuba, to a family prominent in the country's politics and society. At age 12, in order to escape Fidel Castro's regime, Ana and her 14-year-old sister Raquelin were sent to the United States by their parents to live in Iowa as part of a government sponsored program that removed and relocated children from Castro's Cuba. Through Operation Peter Pan, a collaborative program run by the US government and the Catholic Charities, Mendieta and her sister spent their first weeks in refugee camps before moving to several institutions and foster homes in Iowa. In 1966, Mendieta was reunited with her mother and younger brother; her father joined them in 1979, having spent 18 years in a political prison in Cuba for his involvement in the Bay of Pigs invasion.
Mendieta attended the University of Iowa where she earned a BA, an MA in Painting and an MFA in Intermedia under the instruction of acclaimed artist Hans Breder. Through the course of her career, she created work in Cuba, Mexico, Italy, and the United States.
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