The work Untitled (Chicken Piece) is probably one of her most famous performances. It was shot in 1972, and shows recurrent elements of her work, like the nudity of the female body, blood and feathers. In a sacrificial ritual, a chicken, decapitated in front of an audience, makes its last jolts, hanging from Mendieta’s hands, who is standing naked in front of the white wall of the gallery, letting herself be splattered by the sprays of blood that run from the chicken’s neck. The performance refers explicitly to religious sacrifice, particularly that of the Santeria cult, which is very popular in Cuba. It ritualises a two-fold sacrifice: that of the poultry and that of the artist’s body, surrendered to the public.

Patricia Maincent