Art Review

The Mendieta Mystery: At Blum & Poe Gallery, five suites of posthumously printed color photographs by Ana Mendieta (1948-1985) look as if they’re both ahead of their time and behind it.

In terms of subject matter, Mendieta’s prints couldn’t be much farther ahead of the curve. Committed to film in 1972 and 1973, when the Cuba-born, New York-based artist was a graduate student at the University of Iowa, these images outline a host of issues that have animated much recent art, including body art, feminist-inspired social criticism, gender politics, photo-based role-playing and theatrical self-invention.

One set of six close-ups shows the 24-year-old pressing her lips, tongue, nose and cheeks against a pane of clear glass, distorting her attractive features both comically and horribly. Another group of six images depicts Mendieta pressing the same sheet of glass against various parts of her nude body, temporarily squashing a breast or flattening her stomach, buttocks or back.

A series in which the artist wears a wig, turtleneck sweater and lots of makeup seems to foreshadow the “let’s pretend” side of Cindy Sherman’s art. Likewise, six portraits of Mendieta’s face smeared with animal blood appear to anticipate the Halloween aspect of Sherman’s imagery.

However, the predominant emotion conveyed by Mendieta’s photographs is cool detachment. Calm and unflappable, she has the presence of a doctor doing a practice examination on herself.

On the other hand, Mendieta also looks as if she’s doing an assignment for a class she’s not really interested in. Time and again, she appears to be going through the motions of a required exercise of little real consequence. But rather than weakening Mendieta’s photographs, this sense of detachment gives them their understated strength.

There is a problem with the pictures, however, that stems from when they were printed, and according to whose specifications. Printed from negatives discovered long after Mendieta’s premature death, these images embody the slick nonchalance of much recent photography. They appear to be better-than-average works from the 1990s that have been miraculously backdated.

Since it’s impossible to know how--and even if--the artist intended to present these images publicly, it’s difficult to regard them as finished works. A comprehensive book explaining the history and context of Mendieta’s art would probably serve viewers better than an exhibition that doesn’t go out of its way to reveal the facts.

*

* Blum & Poe Gallery, 2042 Broadway, Santa Monica, (310) 453-8311, through Feb. 14. Closed Sundays and Mondays.