Ana Mendieta (b. Havana, Cuba, 1948; d. New York, USA, 1985) was sent to the USA without her parents from Cuba in 1961 during the aftermath of the revolution. She trained at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. Since her untimely death her stature as one of the central figures in many contemporary art movements, including land art, body art and feminist art has been recognized with international solo museum retrospectives including The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (1987); Helsinki City Art Museum, Helsinki (1996); and the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C., curated by Olga Viso (2004, travelled to Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Des Moines Art Centre, Iowa, and Miami Art Museum, Florida). Significant recent and current group shows include WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution (originated at LA MOCA, 2007) and Elles, The Pompidou Centre, Paris (2009); The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture, 1839 to Today, MoMA, New York (2010); Crossing, Paço das Artes, São Paulo (2010); and Fresh Hell, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2010).
