ANA MENDIETA | Untitled (Body Tracks)

a suite of 5 chromogenic prints, each stamped 'Ana Mendieta Raquel Mendieta Harrington Administratrix of The Estate,' and with edition '8/10' and sequential lettering 'GP0651-A-E' in ink on the reverse, framed together, a Galerie Lelong label on the reverse, 1974, printed by the estate in 1998 (cf. Ana Mendieta: Earth, Body, Sculpture, and Performance, pp. 210-1)

Galerie Lelong, New York, 2003

This suite of 5 chromogenic prints is in generally excellent condition. The colors remain bright and saturated, with no apparent fading. Each of the prints is hinged to the mat with 2 pieces of tape on the reverse, and there is a hinge remnant at the lower edge of the reverse of each.
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In Body Tracks, Cuban artist Ana Mendieta presses and drags her blood or paint-soaked hands and forearms downward, creating dramatic, distinct recordings of the movement of her body on blank fabric, paper, or wall. While Mendieta’s Body Tracks performances are inherently ephemeral, there exist both film recordings as well as the actual paper or fabric painted with her ‘tracks’ to serve as physical documentations of the action.  Conducted from the mid-1970s until her untimely death in 1985, Mendieta’s powerful performances have strong feminist undertones. Her works stand in striking contrast to a 1960 performance by Yves Klein, wherein he directed several nude women as ‘living paintbrushes’ to paint his patented color, ‘Klein Blue,’ on huge sheets of paper.  By soaking her hands and arms in blood and paint, Mendieta’s performance challenges Klein’s ‘Anthropometry’ painting by mark-making with her own body and of her own accord.