Ana Mendieta: A Book of Works [Hardcover]

Bonnie Clearwater (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1993 | ISBN-10: 0962851442 | ISBN-13: 978-0962851445

Cuban American artist Ana Mendieta was working on many important projects that were left incomplete at the time of her tragic death in 1985 at age 36. Among these was a beautiful book of photo etchings of her carvings of female figures in remote caves on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba. These sculptures were inspired by the myths and beliefs of the Tainos, preColumbian inhabitants of the West Indies. This publication reproduces in facsimile Mendieta's unfinished book of photo etchings and related works and publishes, for the first time, her notes and writings for this important project.

Mencdieta's work crosses the categories of earth art,body art,performance and conceptual photography. As her works generally were site specific and ephemeral,they became know primarily through the photographic documentation she exhibited in galleries and museums. She intended her intimate book of photo etchings to capture the experience of viewing her elusive life-size sculptures in the close quarters of the caves.

Illustrated with many never-before published photographs, this book is an important contribution to the understanding of his extraordinary artist.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...the authors have honored (Mendieta's) desires by crating a book that speaks softly an genuinely in the artist's voice."

by Alexandra Tager -- Art & Auction magazine

When Ana Mendieta died in 1983, she was working on a book similar to this one,a slim volume of photo etchings of the life-size figures she carved into the stone walls of caves in Cuba's Jaruco State Park. The artist,a "Pedro Pan" child who was sent out of Cuba in the early days of Castro's reign,spent her short art life seeking expression for her personal exile. Inspired by Taino mythology, these pre-Columbian islanders believed the first humans emerged from a cave-Mendieta identified the Cuban caves with birth,including her own. Her intire body of work,largely a collection of photographs documenting such ephemeral art forms as earth works,performance pieces and body art,was spunon this theme of sel-identity,a return to her roots,to mother earth. Unlike her other photographic artifacts,however,these photo etchings were destined for a book, of which this is a facsimile. Her montes on the Taino myths appear as if in her own hand on these pages,along with her thoughts about how the book should be arranged. The result is an intimate experience with the artist's hand and mind and a unique act of closure for a career that ended in a still-unexplained fall from a New york high-rise.

by Helen L. Kohen -- Miami Herald (1993)

About the Author

Bonnie Clearwater is the Director and Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art,North Miami,and the former curator of the Mark Rothko Foundation, New York. Among her pulications are "Frank Stella at 2000:Changing the Rules"; "Defining the Nineties:New York,Los Angeles,Miami"; "Mark Rothko:Works on Paper"; "Edward Ruscha:Words Without Thoughts Never to Heaven Go"; and "David Smith:Stop/Action".

Product Details

• Hardcover: 74 pages
• Publisher: Grassfield Pr (November 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0962851442
• ISBN-13: 978-0962851445
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #911,499 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ana Mendieta's "Rupestrian Sculptures" works executed in Cuba, April 26, 2010

By 

R. Mendieta (Whittier, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ana Mendieta: A Book of Works (Hardcover)

Obviously the other reviewer did not know what they were purchasing when they acquired the book and had therefore mistaken expectations... Beautifully edited small book, containing extensive information about Mendieta's "Rupestrian Sculptures" works executed in Cuba in 1981. The first time the artist's notes, sketches and sources of information on a project were published, intimate and comprehensive.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Very expensive little book...., May 26, 2007

By 

Lorie Schinko (Montreal) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ana Mendieta: A Book of Works (Hardcover)

I love this artist's work very much indeed,and purchased it as a source of learning about Ana's approach,and her take on temporal art making.

the book is interesting,but Mendieta is much more than very interesting....

the volume is very sparse, in all contexts.Tiny black and white photos, blurry and hard to define easilly.

On the upside,it has interesting diary notes from Ana!

On the whole,I would not not have bought it had I seen it in a library.Its way, way too "thin" in info,and in scope. Not a good buy, not if you want more info and samples of her work.I was dissapointed.I found I could acess the same info in on the internet.At least, the pics on the internet were clearer.

It should be sold for about 9.95,not the 50.00 plus I paid in Canadian dollars.

1.0 out of 5 stars Print error, January 26, 2012

By 

Mariana F M Rocha (Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais Brazil) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ana Mendieta: A Book of Works (Hardcover)

The book has printing problems. There are pictures printed on top of each other and there is text printed on top of the pictures, which make it impossible to be read. There are also a couple of blank pages. That was very frustrating...