A major exhibition for the Museum of Fine Arts of La Chaux-de-Fonds. Ana Mendieta’s works are exhibited from June 30 until October 27. Seventy productions, produced between 1968 and 1985, took place on the walls of the Chaux-de-Fondière institution, as part of the exhibition “In the Beginning”. The internationally known artist embodies the desire to become one with nature. His series of photos and videos entitled “Les Siluetas” depicts his own body, which generally seeks to leave its mark in nature.
Ana Mendieta, born in Cuba, then had to go into exile in the United States, where she entered university. Her first artistic impulse was painting, she then turned to photography and video. Four of her paintings are notably exhibited for the first time on the occasion of the Chaux-de-Fonds exhibition. David Lemaire, director and curator of the Musée des beaux-arts de La Chaux-de-Fonds, emphasizes the fact that Ana Mendieta has had a significant impact on future generations: “It’s as if she had been a kind of pioneer of ecofeminism.”
An activist figure close to the environment, Ana Mendieta has therefore established herself in a “virile environment”, according to David Lemaire. Until his death in 1985 in New York, at the age of only 36, the artist created more than 100 films. His works have also been the subject of 56 monographic exhibitions and 120 public collections around the world. An artist known throughout the world. For David Lemaire “it is a privilege to be able to put her in dialogue with artists from the region, in this case Maria Tackmann. »
Two universes that complement each other
In parallel with the Ana Mendieta exhibition “In the beginning”, another exhibition will take place in the museum. It is entitled “line of desire” and is produced by the Bernese artist Maria Tackmann. The artist, who took part in the museum’s residency programme at Villa Numa, plays with the objects she collects in public spaces. Once collected, she organises them into artistic configurations.
For the director of the Museum, aligning another artist alongside Ana Mendieta was not an easy matter. For him, the two women share “an extremely sensitive relationship with their environment. » /ecr
