Unseen Mendieta: The Unpublished Works of Ana Mendieta

A new book “Unseen Mendieta: The Unpublished Works of Ana Mendieta” about the Cuban American performance artist Ana Mendieta was published a few months ago. Ana Mendieta documented many of her performances and artworks with striking photos. This new book promises us a new selection of photos by Ana Mendieta. Photos which hasn’t been published before.

Unseen Mendieta: The Unpublished Works of Ana Mendieta
by Olga Viso
Publisher: Prestel USA, 2008
ISBN-10: 3791339664
ISBN-13: 978-3791339665

The description of the book reads:

“Among the most compelling and iconic images of art in the 1970s are the pioneering investigations of performance and experimental media by Ana Mendieta. An American artist born in Cuba, she explored in her work her Caribbean roots through the lens of exile. She meticulously documented her ephemeral
site-specific artworks, on beaches and in rivers, across flowery fields, and against walls of rock. Here for the first time, Olga Viso, the leading authority on the artist, presents a beautifully curated representative selection of photographs and drawings from the artist s archive, only a small selection of which has been previously published. The volume traces Mendieta s early studies as an art student in Iowa; the genesis of her signature works, the archetypal female forms known as siluetas; and public art projects, including ones being developed at the time of her tragic death in 1985. Interspersed throughout are revealing pages from Mendieta s notebooks: sketches, shopping lists for materials, recipes for gunpowder mixtures, and photographic source materials. Viso s accompanying essay reveals the artist s experimental approach and rigorous working methods, provides insights into the forces that inspired and shaped her work, and shows how the genius of Mendieta s vision has survived its physical manifestations.”