Andy Warhol and Ana Mendieta

When thinking about famous modern day artists, two notable and prominent artists during the 20^thcentury were Andy Warhol and Ana Mendieta. The work these two artists did were very influential and the impact they had towards modern day culture was grand. Their work essentially gave a deeper meaning to what art really is and what it can be. They made pushed massively for cultural paradigm shifts because they did not like how things were in the world. Both brought about art that was not common and focused on themes that made people question reality and freedom. For Andy Warhol, the themes he emphasized included understanding identity, focusing on the little things that make up life, and how life can be glamorized. Ana Mendieta focused on major themes of feminism, identity, life, belonging, violence and death. The two were not far apart in their themes. One key way they expressed these were by using things and art works that already existed and adding their own touch to them. 

Andy Warhol was the most famous and most well paid artist in the 20^thcentury leading the popular art, or pop art movement. Pop art was different from fine art because popular art had images of popular culture including advertisements and everyday things. Popular art went against what was considered only for the elite and took into account what the rest of the population was doing. With this idea Warhol managed to use something so common and simple as a Campells soup to stem some of his most popular works. Since they were already popular common things, he was able to use them in business as well. The primary art form he used were silkscreens. Silkscreens were mesh stencils used to imprint a picture with ink. Warhol altered his work by using a variety of different colors in different locations and even repeating the images. His mix and match and repetition was unique in silk screening. With the simple everyday images that Warhol used, he wanted people to believe that if they focused the details and the little things in their lives, they would realize how each thing is significant and plays a role. Even though soup seems just like good, tasty food, it is important to help a person grow instead of making them go hungry. 

The other important theme that Andy Warhol focused on was distributing celebrity fame to everyone. He wanted to put everyone on the tv for at least 15 minutes, hence the term “15 minutes of fame.” He silk screened a lot of famous celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe but also mostly used models who were not exactly known or famous. In fact, he used models who were considered very different from the public. These models included people who were homosexuals, crossdressers, and stowaways. He not only made them known but he also made their personalities known. Finkelstein wrote that, “The idea that character and personality are both immanent in appearance still exerts a strong influence even though it is riddled with ambiguities. (Finklestein 129)” This is important because every person has a personality and by capturing personality over simply appearance in pictures, it allows viewers to understand the muses more. This can be connected to today’s social media because people are constantly posting pictures of themselves and writing captions. 

Ana also strongly disliked the notion that people, especially women are judged solely from their appearance. Ana Mendieta often used her body and the imprint of it in nature in her work. She was extremely fond of nature and believed that mind, body, and spirit could be strengthened by being one with the maternal source; mother nature. Ana recorded herself nude creating the imprint, or silhouette of her body into the ground. She did this in dirt, sand, rocks and even blood. The silhouettes not only made a connection with the Earth but also allowed her to express her feelings and identity. In 1973, Ana made the piece Untitled (Rape Scene) where she covered herself in blood and was tied to a table insinuating invitation. She made it because she was extremely upset that a women in her school was raped and murdered. Her art was an extension of her beliefs and a form of her expressions.

Another one of the works that Ana made was Untitled (glass on body) and it gave power to the women. The photographs included Mendieta nude with glass distorting her body. Knowing that men liked the bodies of women, she made her body unappealing to them. She was still open, her body was still hers, but it no longer had the attention of men. “On the one hand the individualism of the artist…the owner: on the other hand, the person who is the object of their activities – the woman – treated as a thing or an abstraction. (Berger 62)”

The messages and expressions that the Andy Warhol and Ana Mendieta gave were stemmed from and also were a reflection of their lives. Both Andy Warhol and Ana Mendieta grew up in a struggling setting. Growing up Andy Warhol had several illnesses, physical ailments, and did not have much because at the time the country was in the Great Depression. Due to his illnesses, he did not always go to school and he had a hard time communicating with people. In addition, he had a neurological disorder that made him have involuntary movements and he also had issues with parts of skin having a different color from the rest. He was often made fun of. This made image important to Andy and he wanted to seek the attention of people. 

Ana Mendieta was originally from Cuba but was split from her parents when Fidel Castro overthrew the government. She was sent to America as a refugee with her sister and they moved place to place until they finally had a permanent foster home. Her works often were related to home, place, and boundaries referring to her exiled status and how it affected it. Throughout her years in school and especially in college, she noticed that women were not on equal status as men and they were often objectified. This drove Ana to create works inspiring woman.

In short, both Andy Warhol and Ana Mendieta represented their ideas of identity, equality, and life in general, as well as their own in their work. They were different because not only did they not support the majority, but instead they pushed for a change in social expectations. The following quote by Finkelstein is a representation of what Warhol and Mendieta did not do when they embraced their own selves and the selves of others. "Being well mannered and socially adept enables the individual to avoid being a joke and minimizes the risk of humiliation or schadenfreude" (Finklestein 78). For the reason that they were not afraid to risk everything for being themselves especially when they faced adversity, they became prominently and successfully famous.

"Self-portrait of Andy Warhol"

"Campbell's soup I"

"Untitled: Glass on body"

"Tree of life"

References

      Berger, John (1990). Ways of Seeing: Based on the BBC Television Series (Penguin Books for Art). New York, NY. 1^st Edition. 78,129.

           Finkelstein, Joanne (2005). The Art of Self Invention: Image and Identity in Popular Visual Culture. 62.

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

“Andy Warhol Most Important Art | TheArtStory.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/artist-warhol-andy-artworks.htm.

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