She wanted to be known for her art.
But first she became famous for her death.
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It was the early morning of September 8, 1985.
When he followed half an hour later, she was gone and the bedrooms sliding-glass windows were open.
After a two-and-a-half-year investigation, Andre was charged with Mendietas murder.
By early 1988, he had been acquitted.
Whether she would have liked it or not, Mendietas death made some people see her as a martyr.
where is Ana Mendieta?
At the time, the art historian Helen Molesworth was MoCAs chief curator.
The show doesnt draw conclusions about what happened that night at 300 Mercer Street, #34E.
Few people have had a better birds-eye view of this conflict than Molesworth.
When Molesworth took on the assignment of hosting the podcast, she waded into the controversy directly.
Andres approach has been to say as little about the incident as possible.
(I also contacted Andre for comment and received no reply.)
The family of the accused tries to push you off the porch.
Even before the trial, Andres supporters, at nightclubs and cocktail parties, began to gossip about Mendieta.
It was totally blame the victim, but with an extra twist, she says.
It was completely racist.
It was constructing this idea of the hot-blooded Latina who drank and misbehaved and quote-unquote went out a window.
Artists like Frank Stella were among those who put up money for bail.
Some of Hoffingers questions focused on her interest in Afro-Cuban Santeria.
When the friend said that Yemaya was known for taking flight, Hoffinger asked when Yemaya took flight.
September 7, the witness said the day before Mendietas death.
It was enough to suggest that Mendieta had a dark side.
Its as if the art critic were some two-bit dime-store psychologist, Molesworth told me.
She is far from the first to point this out.
I actually wanted it to be done very quickly, Hyacinthe told me.
If Mendieta was feeling any of those things, it doesnt come across in the resulting photo.
Its peaceful tenor suggests not death but the healing restoration of some long-lost life force.
Even though, of course, it is a spectacular story.
