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Amategram Series - The Vivification of the Flesh

Ana Mendieta American, born Cuba
1981
Not on view
This series of Amategrams (see also MMA 1983.502.2 and 1983.502.3)—totemic forms painted onto amate, paper made from bark by indigenous Otomi craftspeople in Mexico—exemplifies Mendieta’s persistent engagement with the female body and the landscape. The abstract shapes rendered in heavy black lines evoke the presence of a female life force, which Mendieta viewed as omnipresent in the natural world, a continuation of her 1970s "earth body" performances and sculptures. The woody materiality of the amate grounds Mendieta’s symbolic mark making in process, suggesting an affiliation with rituals and offerings, as well as the alchemical.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Amategram Series - The Vivification of the Flesh
  • Artist: Ana Mendieta (American (born Cuba), Havana 1948–1985 New York)
  • Date: 1981
  • Medium: Black acrylic paint on bark paper
  • Dimensions: 24 3/4 in. × 17 in. (62.9 × 43.2 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Mrs. Fernand Leval and Robert Miller Gallery Inc. Gifts, 1983
  • Object Number: 1983.502.1
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Amategram Series - Labyrinth of Venus, Ana Mendieta American, born Cuba, Black opaque watercolor and black acrylic paint on Mexican bark paper (amate)
Amategram Series - Labyrinth of Venus
Ana Mendieta
1981
Amategram Series - Mother Jungle, Ana Mendieta American, born Cuba, Black acrylic paint on bark paper
Amategram Series - Mother Jungle
Ana Mendieta
1981
Itiba Cahubaba (Old Mother Blood/Ensangrentada Madre Vieja), Ana Mendieta American, born Cuba, Gelatin silver print
Itiba Cahubaba (Old Mother Blood/Ensangrentada Madre Vieja)
Ana Mendieta
1981
Untitled, Ana Mendieta American, born Cuba, Gelatin silver print
Untitled
Ana Mendieta
1983
Red Roses Sonata, Alma Thomas American, Acrylic on canvas
Red Roses Sonata
Alma Thomas
1972

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