Works by Ana Mendieta, Derek Jarman, and P. Staff ask us to acknowledge loss — but also to see it as a way into altering the shape of our world.

It’s not a story plastered on the walls of art galleries. But the terrible end to the marriage of artists Carl Andre and Ana Mendieta in September 1985 is a black stain on a cultural behemoth.

LOS ANGELES — It was 65 degrees and sunny the day I visited Earthshaker, an exhibition of work by Ana Mendieta, Derek Jarman, and P. Staff staged across two rooms at Del Vaz Projects.

Was the famous sculptor Carl Andre involved in the death of his up-and-coming artist wife Ana Mendieta? For over 35 years, accusations of murder shrouded one of the art world’s most storied couples.