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EXECUTIVE DIRECTORSaskia BenjaminGUEST EDITORErin DziedzicCREATIVE DIRECTORJennifer SmithCIRCULATION MANAGERPaul BoshearsEDITION MANAGEREd HallCOPY EDITORJulia GarbusPROOFREADERJill BeckerADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVEPhil DietzSTAFF PHOTOGRAPHERJesse ChamberlinINTERNNina BlochCONTRIBUTING EDITORSNuit Banai, BostonD. Eric Bookhardt, New OrleansKatherine Bovee, Portland, Oregon + SeattleMichael Fallon, Minneapolis/St. PaulCécile Bourne Farrell, ParisBecky Huff Hunter, PhiladelphiaJennie Klein, Athens, OhioPil and Galia Kollectiv, LondonWendy Koenig, ChicagoPaul Krainak, Southern Illinois/St. LouisDavid Moos, TorontoGean Moreno, MiamiCay Sophie Rabinowitz, New York + BerlinDinah Ryan + Paul Ryan, Staunton, VirginiaDavid Spalding, San Francisco + BeijingMonika Szewczyk, Vancouver + BerlinDan Talley, PhiladelphiaNiels Van Tomme, Washington, DC + New YorkART PAPERSPO Box 5748 Atlanta, GA 31107-5748voice 404.588.1837 fax 404.588.1836www.artpapers.orgLetter from the Guest Editor“Where is Ana Mendieta?”This question—first posed in 1992 at the Women’s Action Coalition protests of theGuggenheim’s male-centric inaugural exhibition at the new SoHo location and thenagain in 1999 as the title of Jane Blocker’s book, which attempted to simultaneouslyanswer and dispel the possibility of answering the inquiry—was intended to prompt thelocating of Ana Mendieta’s (1948–1985) work in the canon of art history. The reason thequestion—Where is Ana Mendieta?—is so important to contemporary art today isbecause the notion of continuing to contemplate and explore ideas and concepts ofspace (including place, location, and region among others) is crucial to the ways inwhich we make, view, present, and contemplate art in the world. The multidisciplinaryconcepts, practice, and works that encompass Mendieta’s brief, yet deeply prolificartistic career can be thought of in a myriad of ways as the roots of spatial expressions,provocation, and inquiry in the 21st century. This, the fourth in a series of guest-editedissues of ART PAPERS, touches on a multitude of spatial concepts and considerationsin contemporary art, with the intention of embracing the fervent energy and forwardthinking present in the work of Mendieta.Ignited by themes of identity, location, and exile (she was Cuban-born and lived inexile in the US), Mendieta’s work correlated with her desire to continue to locate herselfthrough modes of image-making, performance, and sculpture. This impassioned desireto question place amidst a larger sphere of influence is evident in the lively discussionon the pros and problematics of “regionalism” in a discussion with leading museumcurators, moderated by Isolde Brielmaier. John J. Corso explores the complexities ofnavigating identity in an exilic state, in Shirin Neshat’s films, video, and photographicworks on view at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Stephanie Bailey identifies the assertion ofappropriated models for art fairs and biennials that have resulted largely in Western selfsameexhibition formats worldwide, suggesting a shift in this dovetailing structure toenact critical dialog.The period from the early 1980s until her death in 1985 signaled a transition inMendieta’s work from personal to universal, and in many ways from private—in natureand focused on her own body—to the public realm—making work in a studio and developingstylistically more universal forms. This shift in art-making from private to publicspace is evocative of a similar leap in Mike Kelley’s artistic career that Rana Edgardiscusses in her essay on Kelley’s first permanent public sculpture and final project,Mobile Homestead. Hesse McGraw’s interview with artist Theaster Gates draws on theimportance of indeterminable space outside of designated art spaces, while HelenaReckitt’s overview of the recent phenomenon of one-night art events lends perspectiveon the considerations of audience attendance and participation in public space.Mendieta’s site-specific earth sculptures and performances remind us of the fleetingnature of space and time. The artist projects in this issue include images of works andinstallations by New York-based artists Adam Cvijanovic and Xaviera Simmons that lendunique perspectives on the ephemeral outcomes of atmospheric and political spacesrespectively. The portability of Cvijanovic’s immersive painting installations enlivens thepotential for perpetually rearticulated space. Simmons’ images and performances depicta rich exploration of archival histories that recontextualize historical narrative patterns toreveal the performative in the political.Finally, this issue culminates with a preview of the much-anticipated 55th VeniceBiennale and a series of provocative exhibition reviews, all of which focus on variousaspects of space both in the artists’ work and the contexts in which they are shown.Even though a dedicated text on the work of Ana Mendieta is not present in this issueof ART PAPERS, does it still mean that we have not located her work here? On thecontrary, this issue focuses on the potential of expanded space—linking Mendieta’sconcepts and practice with the critical language of today—and broadening the ways inwhich we continue to examine themes of place and space in contemporary art.—Erin DziedzicARTPAPERS.ORG 9