A Pioneer of Performance and Land Art

At the age of 12, Ana Mendieta (1948–1985) was sent from Cuba to the United States by her family, who were critical of the regime. When she returned in the early 1980s, she was an artist whose work is considered groundbreaking: Influenced by her relocation as a child, she created a multidisciplinary body of work that draws on many cultures and explores the relationship between the human body and nature using often ephemeral materials. It highlights the emotional and sensory qualities of materials. At the same time, Mendieta repeatedly addresses issues in human society that persist to this day, such as violence against women. The Tate Modern’s exhibition Ana Mendieta features a total of over 150 artworks, including numerous restored film works and rarely exhibited paintings and drawings. The exhibition runs from July 15, 2026, to January 17, 2027, in London.

In 1983, Mendieta received the Prix de Rome scholarship to study at the American Academy in Italy. After spending a decade working primarily in natural settings, her practice shifted in Rome toward studio-based sculpture, which enabled her to create more durable works. Tate Modern presents several of her floor works made of earth and binder, including Nile Born (1984), as well as her multi-part sculpture made of tree trunks, La Jungla (Totem Grove) (1985), in which she burned dark silhouettes onto the surfaces using gunpowder. Complemented by the artist’s delicate drawings on leaves and paintings from the Amategram series, which depict totemic forms on bark paper, these works illustrate Mendieta’s ongoing engagement with female body forms. For a long time, many of Mendieta’s works were scarcely accessible to the public. It is only since the late 1990s and early 2000s that her work has gained wider recognition.