Ana Mendieta: Siluetas

In partnership with CONTACT Gallery, Wavelengths is honoured to present an exhibition of films and photographs by multidisciplinary Cuban-born artist Ana Mendieta (1948-1985). Though her work was variously associated with a number of artistic movements (particularly Land art and Feminist art), Mendieta's radical, boldly political practice — whether in photography, performance, film, drawing, sculpture, mixed media and site-specific installation — is ultimately uncategorizable and distinctly her own.

The recent resurfacing and restoration of Mendieta's films and videos has cast a new light upon her work, particularly the unique hybrid of form and documentation that she called "siluetas": fugitive, potent inscriptions of the artist's body into the landscape, which are then transformed by fire, water, and other natural materials. This exhibition includes six landmark films (five from the Silueta series) and two related photographic series (Volcán, shot in Iowa, and Untitled: Silueta Series, shot in Salina Cruz, Mexico) that attest to Mendieta's cohesive and continuous inquiry into themes of the female body, violence, primal energy, and displacement, and which harbour tremendous power both individually and collectively.

ANDRÉA PICARD

Presented in collaboration with CONTACT Gallery, September 8–October 29. OPENING: September 8, 6–8pm.

Image and artworks: courtesy of the Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection, LLC and Galerie Lelong, New York