Ana Mendieta and Andy Warhol

St. Gregory the Theologian, Icon,Greek, c. 1500

Andy Warhol, Mao, 1972

Andy Warhol and Ana Mendieta were both famous artists in the second half of the 20th century. They explored issues of their time with experimental and impactful artwork, and were both heavily influenced by their own life experiences, however they also differed greatly from each other. Their lives, styles, techniques, careers, and many of their themes and subject matter were almost opposites, yet they both contributed profoundly to the art world.



Many of Warhol’s and Mendieta’s themes differ from each other, but they also share some common themes in their art. Andy Warhol’s work explores the themes of fame, commercialism, industry, and repetition, whereas the prevalent themes in Mendieta’s work include feminism, the body, homeland, and earth or nature. A few themes common between both of their works are ephemerality, spirituality, and directness. Although they share these themes, they approach them in different ways. Ana Mendieta explores ephemerality through making work that is itself ephemeral. She creates land art that she leaves subject to the workings of nature, such as wind and rain and their resulting erosion. She portrays the message that every moment is fleeting because that is the way of nature. On the other hand, Andy Warhol explores ephemerality but creates works that are much more permanent. He reproduces labels, advertisements, and other forms of media to try to lengthen the ephemeral moment that is seeing one of these things. As John Berger states, "[t]he publicity image belongs to the moment", in the sense that ads are generally singular images that one may walk or drive past and only see for a moment, and in the sense that advertisements are constantly updated as times change(Berger 129-130). As such, Andy Warhol's works also belong "to the moment", however he places them in a context where they would be examined for a longer amount of time than the average advertisement. Spirituality is somewhat subtle in both Mendieta and Warhol's works, but still shows in different ways. Mendieta was influenced by Santeria, an Afro-Cuban religion. She makes references to certain deities in some of her works. Warhol uses his work to examine the general concept of spirituality and how it relates to everyday life, especially considering the influence of advertising and celebrities. Both Mendieta and Warhol's works tend to be direct. Warhol's prints are exactly what they are, whether in the form of brand logos, a pop star's face, or a tragic car crash. They have the immediacy that most popular media itself tends to have, and in reflecting it so directly, causes people to consider their effects. Mendieta's self portraits are confrontational and force people to think about the concepts she addresses. For example, in her piece "Rape Scene", she depicted herself as a murdered rape victim, slouched over a table and completely exposed. This forced people to be confronted with the feelings they would have if they saw an actual rape victim, thus provoking thought about the issue of violence against women.



Both Warhol and Mendieta were significantly influenced by people and events in their lives prior to becoming artists. Their styles, techniques, and subjects were highly influenced by childhood experiences. At a young age, Warhol was frequently taken to his mother’s church, where he had hours to look at the Byzantine icons that decorated it. These images likely led him to create his simplistic, repetitive, and boldly colored screen printing style of portrait that vaguely echoes Byzantine icons.

Warhol creates a noticeable parallel between important religious figures of the Byzantine Era and important political and cultural figures of the 1960s-80s. He may have developed an insight to the almost religious following of famous people or governments that occurred in his time, which would have been influenced further by his own ongoing obsession with fame and the famous. Mendieta spent much of her childhood in Cuba, where she and her family lived next to a beach. She and her family recall burying each other in the sand as they played, which is strikingly similar to the land art following the form of the human body that Mendieta would later create.

 

Ana Mendieta, Color Photograph Documenting Earth/Body Work with Sand, Pigment, Old Man's Creek, Iowa City, from the series "Silueta Works in Iowa and Oaxaca, Mexico", 1976-78

Person buried in the sand

  

  

Like many of the themes in their work, the techniques used by Mendieta and Warhol were practically opposites, except for their use of the camera, which still differed between the two. Mendieta used her own body, as well as natural materials like mud, sticks, sand, water, fire, and even blood. She used the camera as a way to document her creations before leaving them in nature where she had made them, or to take pictures of herself in the cases where she used her own body. Sometimes she would take still photos and sometimes she would take videos, especially if her piece involved a moving force or process of nature, such as the burning of a silueta in her "Silueta en Fuego".

 

Ana Mendieta, Silueta en Fuego, 1975

 Andy Warhol, on the other hand, used photography as a main source for his work. His pieces often included prints of his own photographs or those of others. He would use ink and silk screens for most of his printing, and paint for some of his other pieces. Unlike Mendieta, these are largely man made and artificial materials. Although he occasionally took a self portrait photograph, he did not use his body or face in the same way that Mendieta did. He took these photos as if to capture a version of himself existing in a particular moment, whereas Mendieta would distort her body and face to challenge the way the viewer looked at her.

Ana Mendieta, Untitled (Glass on Body Imprints), 1972

Warhol and Mendieta both created themselves through their art. It is true that actions and images people make create their identities, and art is a prime example of this. In "The Art of Self Invention", Finkelstein notes that "[a]ttached to our bodily deportment and accessories are highly detailed codes that suggest specific social implications"(Finkelstein 127). Warhol and Mendieta have an awareness of this and alter their own images accordingly in order to produce certain impressions. Mendieta aims to challenge specific impressions. In many of her self portraits she foregoes any clothing, which works to symbolize that she does not with to be involved in any assumptions that might be made about her due to the way she dresses. In other self portraits she uses makeup and prosthetic facial hair to alter her face, often giving it typically male features. This jars a viewer as it is not typical for a female person to have a moustache, for example. In yet others, she distorts her face and parts of her body with panes of glass. This challenges the notion of female perfection as enforced by the male gaze. As Berger details, the male gaze pressures women to always look and act on an unrealistic level of perfection in order to be seen as women at all (Berger 46). Mendieta challenges this by creating a flawed, and therefore realistic, image of herself. This type of work contradicts what is expected of the female image and also works to challenge this image. Andy Warhol did not aim to challenge people's perceptions of him, but did create a specific image of himself through his works. He wanted to be famous, and to gain that, he partly created an image of himself as a famous person. Both in and out of his self portraits, using accessories like white wigs and black clothing create the coded impression of someone eccentric and mysterious. This drew people to him and helped contribute to his fame.

The late 20th century was a time of many complex issues including feminism, environmentalism, war, and racism, accompanied by the rising number of advertisements, entertainers, and other famous figures. Ana Mendieta and Andy Warhol each represent a result of these issues, as their art reacts to them and is a unique product of their personalities and experiences.

Works Cited

Horsfield, Kate, et al., directors. Ana Mendieta: Fuego De Tierra. Women Make Movies, 1987.


Sanders, James, and Ric Burns. Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film. YouTube.com, Thirteen/WNET New York, 2006, www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQXpqQO4vaE.


Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. Art & Language, 1978.


Finkelstein, Joanne. The Art of Self Invention: Image and Identity in Popular Visual Culture. I.B. Tauris, 2007. 


Grishin, Sasha. “The Byzantine Icon.” Hellenic Foundation for Culture, hfc-worldwide.org/blog/2015/01/31/byzantine-icon/.


“Collection.” Art Gallery NSW, www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/349.1997.7/.


“SELF-PORTRAIT FRIGHT WIG by Andy Warhol.” Artnet.com, Sotheby's New York, 1 Jan. 1986, www.artnet.com/artists/andy-warhol/self-portrait-fright-wig-57XxIychx8l9gHs2xdz1hQ2.


A., Ashley. “Ana Mendieta's Alma Silueta En Fuego.” WMST 250: Feminist Art Gallery, Blogspot, 11 May 2012, womenartandculture.blogspot.com/2012/05/ana-mendietas-alma-silueta-en-fuego.html.


Bunyan, Marcus. “Exhibition: 'Ana Mendieta: Traces' at the Museum Der Moderne Salzburg.” Artblart.com, artblart.com/tag/ana-mendieta-untitled-self-portrait-with-blood/.