Following what was an extremely impactful year for the actor with her staggering performance in Barbie, America Ferrera is slated to star as Cuban artist Ana Mendieta in the upcoming series Naked by the Window. An Amazon MGM Studios production, it adapts the book of the same name by Robert Katz.
Ana Mendieta was a multi-disciplinary artist born in Havana who came into the public eye in New York City with her combination of installation, performance art, and video. She was one of the prominent figures in the medium known as land art, or what she called earth/body sculptures. Utilizing her body in conjunction with natural elements as a sort of canvas, most notably in her Silueta Series, she sought to draw attention to the inherent connection of humanity to the land and drew on Afro-Cuban cultural influences in these endeavours. Her works often evoked themes of feminism, violence towards women, and death.
Mendieta had been married to sculptor Carl Andre, and in 1985, she died falling from the window of his 34th-floor apartment. With neighbours having reported violent arguing before her death, along with the presence of scratch marks on Andre’s face, Mendieta being heard crying out, and what seems now like a flimsy 911 call from Andre, it is hard not to assume what has happened. He was acquitted of second-degree murder, but public opinion of him has not been kind with a steady resistance to his work being exhibited ever since.
Toting an Oscar nomination for her performance as Gloria in Barbie, as well as an award-winning career across decades of TV and poised for her own directorial debut with I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, Ferrera is sure to bring her iconic heart and wit to honour the energy of Ana Mendieta in Naked by the Window.
