Carl Andre: the artist who outraged Britain and was accused of murder

Carl Andre was a hugely influential artist, but his death this week has revived memories of two of the art world’s most controversial episodes. One is about his “Brick Mountain” sculpture, and the other is about his wife’s mysterious death.

Before his rise to notoriety, Andre became famous for his pioneering ideas about what was considered art.

After moving to New York to pursue her dream of becoming an artist, her breakthrough came when she met abstract painter Frank Stella.

Looking at the uncarved side of the large wooden beam Andre was working on, Stella said, “That’s a carving, too.” Andre said that moment changed his life.

He realized that art could be reduced to industrial necessities, the arrangement of simple rectangular sculptures from raw materials such as brick, steel, aluminum, and cedar blocks.

However, destroying the traditional rules of art was too radical for many.

In 1976, it was revealed that the Tate Gallery had bought his work Equivalence VIII (a floor of 120 bricks) for £2,297 with taxpayers’ money, and his work became a hot topic in the UK. sparked protests.

A front page headline in the Daily Mirror declared: “What a load of rubbish”. Anger and debate raged in the press for days, with many seeing Andre’s humble “heap of bricks” as irresistible evidence of modern art’s deception.

“For many years, Andre’s Brick became known as the Tate Brick and caused great controversy, generating newspaper headlines, heated debates, and numerous caricatures and playful photo opportunities.”

The gulf between critical artist genealogy and public perception continued a year later in the United States, when the state of Connecticut purchased Andre’s work, consisting of 36 uncut rocks, for $87,000. Hartford’s mayor publicly denounced the purchase, saying it was bringing “international ridicule” to the city.

But another dark controversy arose surrounding Andre after his third wife, Cuban artist Ana Mendieta, fell to her death under mysterious circumstances from the 34th floor of her New York apartment in 1985.

When Andre called 911, he told emergency services that the couple had been arguing over who was famous. She went to her bedroom and “I chased her and she went out her window,” he said.

However, when he was later questioned by police, he told a different story. He said they were watching TV together and she went to bed before him, but when he went to join her, she wasn’t there and her bedroom window was open. .

Police noticed injuries to Andre’s face and body. Her friends recalled her saying she was afraid of heights because of his temper.

When Andre was tried for murder in 1988, a doorman testified that he heard cries of “No, no, no!” Just before her body hits the ground. But prosecutors were prevented from presenting evidence that Mendieta was planning to divorce her because of Andre’s infidelity.

He did not testify, but his lawyer argued that his wife either fell accidentally or committed suicide. he was acquitted.

In the years following his trial, Andre continued to create and exhibit his work, becoming respected by many in the art world.

However, many people were not satisfied with the ruling, and his exhibitions were often the subject of protests and chants such as “Where is Ana Mendieta?”

Mendieta’s own reputation has been belatedly increasing in recent years, with Helen Molesworth’s 2022 podcast Death of the Artist reevaluating the court and Mendieta’s treatment as a female artist through a post-#MeToo lens.

Andre died Wednesday at the age of 88 in hospice care, suffering from dementia.

The art remains. The same goes for questions.