Being “Other”: Ana Mendieta’s Artistic Practice and Feminist Politics within Arts Institutions

Abstract

This thesis examines the art and politics of Cuban American artist Ana Mendieta through her engagement with three arts institutions: 1) the University of Iowa; 2) Heresies: A Journal of Feminist Art and Politics; and 3) Artist in Residence Gallery (A.I.R.). I explore these three institutions specifically to illuminate how their unique structures provided Mendieta with essential opportunities and confronted her with challenging constraints that would shape her artistic practice and Third World feminist politics. Her practice and politics were both rooted in her experiences of difference after being exiled from Cuba in 1961 and her journey to reconnect to her homeland. During the 1970s and 1980s, women of colour describing themselves as “Third World women” began seeking an alternative means of feminist organizing that embraced their multiplicity, based on coalition-building and tactical alliances. Throughout her life, Mendieta was committed to uplifting Cuban and other Latin American artists, and, through her institutional work, she showcased her commitment to uplifting Third World women through a politics of being “Other.” By approaching Mendieta’s practice through her work with arts institutions, this thesis connects her artistic practice to the important feminist activism that Third World women were doing at the time.