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.

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.

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.

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.