Howardena Pindell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Howardena Pindell
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Pindell in 2019
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| Born | April 14, 1943 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Boston University, Yale School of Art and Architecture |
| Occupation | Artist, curator, educator |
| Known for | Painting, collage, video art, mixed media |
| Awards | Guggenheim Fellowship (1987) |
Howardena Pindell (born April 14, 1943) is an American artist, curator (a person who organizes art exhibitions), and teacher. She is famous for her paintings and mixed media art, which means she uses many different materials and techniques.
Pindell began her career working at the famous Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City during the day and creating her own art at night. She helped start the A.I.R. Gallery, a gallery run by female artists. She also worked with groups to support other women artists, especially Black women.
Her art often explores texture, color, and different ways of making things. Much of her work is also political. It addresses important issues like racism, women's rights, and history. She is known for her abstract paintings, collages, and unique "video drawings."
Contents
Early Life and School
Howardena Pindell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She grew up in a neighborhood called Germantown. As a child, she showed a talent for art. She took art classes at several local art schools. She graduated from the Philadelphia High School for Girls, where she also acted and designed sets for plays.
After high school, she went to Boston University and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in 1965. She then attended the prestigious Yale University, where she received her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in 1967. At Yale, she studied color theory, which is the study of how colors mix and match.
Career
Working at MoMA
In 1967, Pindell started working at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. By 1977, she became an associate curator in the museum's department for prints and illustrated books.
Working at MoMA gave her many ideas for her own art. She was especially inspired by an exhibit of African textiles. At night, she would create her own artwork. She left her job at MoMA in 1979 to focus on her art and teaching.
A.I.R. Gallery
In 1972, Pindell and 19 other female artists, including Nancy Spero and Agnes Denes, started the A.I.R. Gallery. It was the first gallery in the United States run by women artists. This was important because it allowed women to have full control over their own exhibitions.
Pindell was the only Black woman among the founders. She felt that the other members did not always understand her concerns about racial inequality. These experiences influenced one of her most famous video works. She left the gallery in 1975.
Teaching and Later Career
In the 1970s, Pindell traveled to other countries to give talks about art. She has been a professor of art at Stony Brook University since 1979. She also taught at Yale University from 1995 to 1999.
In 2010, Pindell was interviewed for the movie !Women Art Revolution, a film about the feminist art movement. In 2024, one of her paintings from 1975 sold for $1.75 million.
Artistic Style
After moving to New York City in 1967, Pindell began to create abstract art and collages. By the 1970s, she developed a unique style using dots, which was similar to art styles like minimalism and pointillism.
The Power of Circles
Pindell started using a paper punch to cut out thousands of tiny paper circles. She would then scatter these dots onto her canvases to create textured and colorful paintings. One of her early pieces from 1973 used over 20,000 hand-numbered paper dots.
The circle shape had a deep personal meaning for her. She remembered a childhood trip where she saw a red circle on the bottom of a root beer mug. This mark was used in the segregated United States to separate dishes used by Black people from those used by white people. This memory made the circle a "scary thing" for her. By using circles in her art, she was able to reclaim the shape and find joy in it.
Video Drawings and New Materials
In the 1980s, Pindell started making "Video Drawings." She would write tiny numbers on clear plastic sheets (acetate) and stick them to her TV screen. Then, she would take pictures of her drawings over images from the news or sports events.
She was also inspired by African art she saw in museums. African artists often used materials like beads, shells, and horns. Pindell began to add new items to her own collages, such as glitter, paper, and dye.
Art After a Car Accident
In 1979, Pindell was in a serious car accident that caused her to lose parts of her memory. Her art became more personal after this, as a way to help her heal and remember.
In her Autobiography series, she traced an outline of her own body and sewed it onto a large canvas. She also began using postcards from friends and her own travels in her art. She would cut the postcards into strips and paste them onto the canvas, creating a fractured, vibrating look. This technique helped her piece together her memories.
Political Art
In 1980, Pindell created a powerful video called Free, White, and 21. In the video, she plays two characters. One is herself, sharing real stories of racism she experienced. The other is a white woman who dismisses her experiences. The video was a sharp critique of racism, even within the feminist movement.
Pindell became more aware that she was often the only Black artist included in exhibitions, a practice known as "tokenism." She organized a show for women artists of color to give them more visibility.
Her work in the 1980s and 1990s continued to explore political themes like slavery, racism, and women's issues. She created a series of "word" paintings where her silhouette was covered with words like "slave trade."
Awards
Pindell has received many awards for her work, including:
- A Guggenheim Fellowship in 1987
- The Most Distinguished Body of Work or Performance Award from the College Art Association in 1990
- Two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts
- A United States Artists fellowship in 2020
She also has honorary doctorates from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and Parsons The New School for Design.
Collections
Pindell's art is in the collections of many famous museums around the world, including:
- Museum of Modern Art, New York
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
- Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
- The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
- Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark
See also
In Spanish: Howardena Pindell para niños
