Untitled, from the Silueta series

Ana Mendieta, Untitled, from the Silueta series, 1980, gelatin silver print, sight 38 ³⁄₄ x 52 ¹⁄₂ in. (98.4 x 133.4 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1995.54.2, © 1980, Estate of Ana Mendieta

Artwork Details

Title: Untitled, from the Silueta series
Artist: Ana Mendieta
Date: 1980
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: sight 38 ³⁄₄ x 52 ¹⁄₂ in. (98.4 x 133.4 cm.)
Copyright: © 1980, Estate of Ana Mendieta
Credit Line: Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program
Mediums Description: gelatin silver print
Classifications: Photography
Photoprint
Subjects: Landscape — Mexico — Oaxaca
Landscape — mountain — Mountain of San Felipe
Object Number: 1995.54.2
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1995.54.2

Artwork Description

Mendieta’s Silueta series, produced between 1973 and 1980, explores the connections between nature and the female body. This photograph documents an ephemeral sculpture – in the shape of the artist’s silhouette and loosely evocative of ancient goddess archetypes – carved directly into the earth with minimal disruption of the environment. Mendieta’s Siluetas signify a return to a metaphorical womb and her native Cuban homeland as she molded a feminist subject and land art processes to explore the theme of exile.

Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, 2013

La serie Silueta, de Mendieta, creada entre 1973 y 1980, estudia las conexiones entre la naturaleza y el cuerpo de la mujer. Esta fotografía documenta una escultura efímera —con la forma de la silueta de la artista y vagamente evocadora de los arquetipos de la Diosa Madre— tallada directamente en la tierra con una alteración mínima del entorno. Las Siluetas de Mendieta significan un retorno a una matriz metafórica y a su Cuba natal al mediar un tema feminista con procesos del arte de la tierra para analizar el tema del exilio.

Nuestra América: la presencia latina en el arte estadounidense, 2013

Works by this artist (1 item)

This Present Moment

Artist

Alicia Eggert

Date2019-2020

neon, custom controller, steel

Related Books

Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art

Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art explores how Latino artists shaped the artistic movements of their day and recalibrated key themes in American art and culture. This beautifully illustrated volume presents the rich and varied contributions of Latino artists in the United States since the mid-twentieth century, when the concept of a collective Latino identity began to emerge. Our America includes works by artists who participated in all the various artistic styles and movements, including abstract expressionism; activist, conceptual, and performance art; and classic American genres such as landscape, portraiture, and scenes of everyday life.

Exhibitions

Media - 2011.12 - SAAM-2011.12_1 - 77591

Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art

October 25, 2013–March 2, 2014

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art presents the rich and varied contributions of Latino artists in the United States since the mid-twentieth century, when the concept of a collective Latino identity began to emerge.