Last year in bookclub we read Anita Demonte Laughs Last. It is a fictionalized account of Ana Mendietas death at the hands of her ‘artistic genius' husband.I didn’t know it was based on a true story when I began it. (Great book btw). I’ve been doing the deep dive, and although her medium is much different than mine, her passion and raw honesty are something for which I strive. Her murder and the polarization of the New York art world in the 80s still has lasting effects to this day. But not in the way one would think. It is the absence of conversation, the void into which her existence was thrown, like her body from the husband's ’s loft window. The refusal to hold the man accountable because his art was capital A Art. Big money built on the idea of minimalism.
It is infuriating, her story dovetailed and ending with him. He requested a bench trial because his defense team knew the average person wouldn’t know the Artist, The Genius. But the judge assigned to the case fancied himself an art connoisseur and that was the best bet they had. And it worked.
Even though he had scratch marks on his face and back. Even though she was pathologically afraid of heights (the defense argued she climbed up onto the windowsill on the 34th floor and either jumped or lost her balance). Even though there were no footprints on the sill. Even though his story changed 3 times.
And for the art community, it wasn’t so much a question of IF but Did it Matter? Wasn’t his legacy heavier than the act? And she WAS a lot.
This story sticks with me, the way she was erased because she was too much, too argumentative, too loud, too passionate. She was too feminine in the wrong ways. Matriarchal anger is not lady like.
Anyway. Check out the podcast Death of an Artist. I think the next artist she does is Pollock. The interviews are good.
*pictured Anima
