Andy Warhol and Ana Mendieta

Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol was born on August 6, 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His parents were Slovakian immigrants who lived in the ethnic enclave of Pittsburgh. When Warhol contracted Chorea, a fatal disease, at the age of eight, he was always in bed so his mother gave him drawing lessons. Drawing became one of Warhol’s hobby, as well as photography. He received his first camera at the age of nine. With the camera, he started to develop film in their basement.

Seated Male Nude Torso (1950s)

Warhol was gay, so he filled sketchbooks in the 1950s with drawings that he titled “Boy Portraits.” Warhol’s movement was pop art. His most notable work were Chelsea Girls (1966 film), Exploding Plastic Inevitable (1966 event), Campbell’s Soup Cans (1962 painting), and Marilyn Diptych (1962 painting). He painted the soup cans because he claimed to have them for lunch all the time. 

Marilyn Monroe (1962)

Marilyn became a pop culture icon and many portraits were created by just one of her pictures. Andy Warhol liked celebrities so that is why he painted them. Whenever someone hears "Marilyn," they think of her blonde hair and the pictures taken of her by Warhol. Her identity was basically created because of this portrait. In Joanne Finkelstein's book, The Art of Self Invention: Image and Identity in Popular Visual Culture, she states "Such a character values the idea of a 'core self' that emanates our ethical best but also understands the necessity of the opposite, namely, being able to invent an identity to suit the fluid character of cosmopolitan life" (Finkelstein, 10).

Ana Mendieta

Ana Mendieta was born in Havana, Cuba in 1948. Since Cuba was under Fidel Castro’s dictatorship, at the age of 12, she and her sister along with other children were sent to the United States as part of the Peter Pan operation. Ana and her sister knew little English, so they relied on art to help them get over being away from their family and the harshness of their new school. Mendieta wrote when she enrolled into Hans Breder’s Intermedia Art course: “The turning point in art was in 1972, when I realized that my paintings were not real enough for what I want the image to convey and be real I mean I wanted my images to have power, to be magic.” Her professor and her had an affair. 

Rape Scene

Ana Mendieta had a “Mature Period.” In 1973, there was a on-campus rape and murder in the University of Iowa, where Mendieta studied. This occurrence led to Mendieta’s powerful work. She used her own body to create a piece which reenacted what happened on campus. She tied herself and bent over, faced down on a table in her apartment. Not only that, she was also naked with cow’s blood smeared all over her body. She invited students and faculty members to her apartment to see the scene.

Body Tracks

Her crime scene document, “Body Tracks,” was completed a year later. In this recording, Mendieta is seen outstretching her arms into a V shape and dragging blood down the wall and walking away. Finkelstein states in her book: “The body is the first visible sign we use to make judgments of one another” (Finkelstein, 96). This quote can relate to Mendieta because she used her body to create her works, as well as showing life and feminist views. Just like Berger said in page 54, “to be naked is to be without disguise,” and that is exactly what Mendieta did by exposing herself in her art. Mendieta was awarded the Rome Prize in 1983 since she created sculptures and drawings using natural elements. In New York, she died by falling 33 floors on top of a roof of a deli from a window of her apartment. Her husband, Andre, was not found guilty, however, back in January 1985, their relationship was on a decline; so, people believe he was the prime suspect.

Both, Warhol and Mendieta, created astonishing pieces of artwork. Even though, they both had a difficult childhood, their art is different and opposite themes. Warhol was more superficial, while Mendieta was realistic and her works had more meaning than a soup can. Mendieta’s pieces consisted of organic material like mud, blood, and water. However, both of their works were influenced by events that occurred during their life. Also, their legacy lives to this day.

Works Cited

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing: Based on the BBC Television Series with John Berger. British Broadcasting Corp., 2012.
Finkelstein, Joanne, et al. “The Art of Self Invention.” By Joanne Finkelstein, 

“Ana Mendieta Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/artist-mendieta-ana.htm.

“Andy Warhol's Life.” The Andy Warhol Museum, www.warhol.org/andy-warhols-life/.