Pushkin Industries · Arts & Culture

Death of an Artist

In February 2024, celebrated children’s book author and illustrator Petra Mathers and her husband, photographer Michael Mathers, mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died by suicide. Petra and Michael were by all accounts healthy, happy, and in love. Why did they choose to die together? And what did that decision do to the people left to mourn them? In season 3 of Death of an Artist, journalists Leon Neyfakh and Alice Gregory set out to interview everyone who got one of Petra and Michael’s letters—as one married couple trying to understand another. Through intimate conversations with Petra and Michael’s friends and family about their own relationships to aging, grief, death, and the friends they thought they knew, Death of an Artist weaves together a portrait of a community grappling with the Mathers’ deaths and the final words they left behind. Listen back to season 2, where Katy Hessel offers an inside look at how Jackson Pollock and his wife, Lee Krasner, changed everything about the landscape of modern art. And in season 1, host Helen Molesworth revisits the artist Ana Mendieta’s death and the trial that followed—interrogating both the silence and the protest that have accompanied her story ever since. Death of an Artist Season 1 is a co-production between Pushkin Industries, Somethin’ Else, and Sony Music Entertainment. Death of an Artist Season 2 is a co-production between Pushkin Industries and Samizdat Audio.

Episodes

Helen Molesworth visits Carl Andre's apartment building, reflecting on Ana Mendieta's tragic death. Unable to contact Andre directly, she leaves a note. The episode explores the question of separating art from the artist, referencing figures like Woody Allen and Harvey Weinstein. Molesworth attends Andre's show at the ...

Episode 5: The Silencing

14 Oct 2022

40m

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This episode of "Death of an Artist," titled "The Silencing," delves into the trial of Carl Andre for the death of Ana Mendieta, highlighting how the defense strategy focused on discrediting Mendieta by portraying her as a drunk and exploiting stereotypes about her interest in Santeria. The episode explores the concept...

Episode 4: The Genius Problem

07 Oct 2022

43m

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This episode of "Death of an Artist" delves into the trial of Carl Andre for the death of Ana Mendieta, examining the social and art-world context of the time. It highlights the complexities of separating an artist's personal life from their work, the concept of "genius," and the challenges faced by women in the art wo...

Episode 3: The Feminist Cabal

30 Sep 2022

38m

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This episode of "Death of an Artist" delves into Ana Mendieta's life, focusing on her artistic explorations in Cuba, her interest in Afro-Cuban religion, and her political activism, which led to scrutiny from the FBI. The episode also explores her time in Rome, where she challenged the status quo at the American Academ...

Episode 2: What the Wall Label Doesn’t Tell You

23 Sep 2022

43m

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This episode of "Death of an Artist" delves into the circumstances surrounding Ana Mendieta's death and the subsequent investigation. It highlights discrepancies in Carl Andre's statements to the police, the discovery of contradictory evidence at the crime scene, and the swift action of Andre's influential friends in t...

Episode 1: The Haunting

23 Sep 2022

44m

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"Death of an Artist" is a true crime podcast hosted by Helen Molesworth, exploring the life and death of Cuban artist Ana Mendieta, who died after falling from the apartment of her husband, minimalist sculptor Carl Andre. The podcast delves into the art world's reaction to Mendieta's death, the subsequent controversy s...

Introducing Death of an Artist: The Story of Ana Mendieta and Carl Andre

26 Aug 2022

Page 2

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Death of an Artist

Episodes

Episode 4: Jackson Pollock Inc.

Episode 3: The Collector

Episode 2: Inner Rhythm

Episode 1: Crash