Howardena Pindell, Paintings and Drawings: A Retrospective Exhibition, 1972-1992 094274618X, 9780942746181

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HOWARDENA PINDELL

Paintings and Drawings

Howardena Pindell (1980). Photo by Camille Billops, © 1980

HOWARDENA PINDELL

ExhibitsUSA” A NATIONAL DIVISION OF MID-AMERICA ARTS ALLIANCE

ExhibitsUSA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance, is sponsored by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund. Mid-America Arts Alliance is assisted by its six partner state agencies, the National Endowment for the Arts, and private contributors.

Contents

Preface Georgia Coopersmith . 5 Acknowledgements Mary Kennedy McCabe.7

On the cover: Autobiography: East/West: Waterfall, 1983

Foreword Grace Stanislaus.8

(number 20 in the

A Resolutely Globaljoumey: The Life

exhibition).

and Work of Howardena Pindell Holland Cotter . 10 Synthesis and Integration in the Work of Howardena Pindell, 1972-1992 Lowery Stokes Sims . 13 Howardena Pindell: Some Reminiscences and a Chronology Howardena Pindell, Loma Simpson, & Georgia Coopersmith.20 Howardena Pindell: Paintings and Drawings A Checklist of the Exhibition.24 Plates with commentary by the artist.28 Notes and Resources.92

© 1992 Roland Gibson Gallery at Potsdam College of the State University of New York. All rights reserved. Artist’s Statements © Howardena Pindell. Photography (unless otherwise credited) © D. James Dee, New York

ISBN 0-942746-18-X $27.50

Preface

Georgia Coopersmith Longwood Fine Arts Center The individuals and

artist’s written and visual

editorial help and for coor¬

have come about: the

organizations who have

work. To this end, we have

dinating the receipt of the

National Endowment for

contributed to this exhibi¬

provided a comprehensive

catalogue materials, and

the Arts, New York State

tion were bound in a

educational package to

Richard McClintock for

Council on the Arts, the

common commitment to

accompany the exhibition

conceiving and executing

Andy Warhol Foundation,

represent the artist and her

and the artist’s personal

the design and production

the Kraft Foundation, and

ideas in a more complete

reading list.

of the catalogue. Ellen

ExhibitsUSA. The State

manner then previously

• To evaluate the impact of

Giusti is credited with

University College at

possible. In our initial

the exhibition on visitors;

designing the evaluative

Potsdam and Longwood

meetings and discussions

whether the exhibition and

materials.

about the design of the

related resources served its

exhibition, four objectives

intended purpose “to

College student intemjodi

tive support on behalf on

were identified:

inform and decode the

Comins is thanked for her

the project.

• To travel the first solo

artist’s work.” We have

perseverance, exhibition

exhibition of Pindell’s

provided two means to

coordinator Alyssa

wishes to note the great

work. In addition, this

measure audience

Verruso for her conscien¬

contribution provided by

exhibition marks the first

response. The first asks

tious follow-through, and

the artist herself. She has

retrospective exhibition of

for visitor’s comments in a

Interim Director Diana

provided not only the

breadth. The two-and-a-

format that is incorporated

Cooper for undertaking

artwork and text, but

half year tour will bring

in the exhibition. The

the responsibility for the

generous amounts of time,

Pindell’s work to the atten¬

other is a quantifiable

execution of many

labor, and perceptive

tion of new and diverse

exit survey, randomly

arrangements.

insight on every aspect of

audiences.

administered.

• To incorporate, for the

In achieving our goals,

College are acknowledged

In addition, at Potsdam

We appreciated the

for providing administra¬

Finally, the organizer

this exhibition. For her

understanding and

great attention to concept,

first time, Pindell’s writ¬

we have had much help

professionalism of Mary

theory, and process we are

ings on art, self, and poli¬

from many individuals

Kennedy McCabe and the

deeply obligated to

tics with her visual work.

who made significant

staff at ExhibitsUSA,

Howardena Pindell.

The exhibition catalogue

contributions of time and

whose partnership has

contains statements by the

talent to the program. We

enabled a higher caliber of

artist about her sources for

acknowledge Lowery Sims

exhibition.

each painting, and

for providing the major

resources that have influ¬

essay on Howardena

to the exhibition for their

enced her conceptual

Pindell and her work,

generosity in allowing us to

development. In the

Grace Stanislaus for the

borrow works from their

exhibition itself, we have

foreword, Holland Cotter

collections for an extended

included wall labels with

for his insights, and Susan

period.

text drawn from the

Stoops for her jacket notes.

artist’s statements.

Nashormeh Lindo is

July 1992

We thank all the lenders

With particular grati¬ tude, we thank the organi¬

• To disseminate informa¬

commended for fine design

zations and foundations

tion related to resources

and preparation of the

that provided financial

and readings that have

educational materials. We

support for the exhibition,

informed and inspired the

thank Naomi Nelson for

without which it would not

PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS

5

ExhibitsUSA"

St'

A NATIONAL DIVISION OF MID-AMERICA ARTS ALLIANCE

ExhibitsUSA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance, was created in 1988 to meet the growing demand from small and mid-sized museums, university galleries, and community art centers around the United States for exhibitions that offer afforda¬ bility without compromised quality. Our mission is to distribute and promote highquality visual arts programs of local, regional, national, and international signifi¬ cance; to provide access to arts experiences among the broadest spectrum of our population; and to nurture the development and under¬ standing of various art forms. ExhibitsUSA Staff Mary Kennedy McCabe, Director Patricia Fitzpatrick, Registrar Kathy Stump, Education Coordinator Edana Elder, Acting Marketing Coordinator Kristen Gladsky, Curatorial Assistant Eric Lindveit, Preparator Christopher Ketchie, Assistant Preparator Noel Ashby, Technical Assistant Jana Brunner, Technical Assistant

Mid-America Arts Alliance, founded in 1972, is a private non-profit arts organization serving a sixstate region. Its partners include the state arts agencies of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Okla¬ homa, and Texas, the National Endowment for the Arts, private foundations, and individual contributors. Today its activities encom¬ pass regional, national, and international performing and visual arts projects, specializ¬ ing in touring, related services, and artist fellowship programs.

Mid-America Arts Alliance Board of Directors Wallace Richardson, Lincoln, Nebraska, Chairman Anthony Radich, St. Loins, Missouri, Vice Chairman Harolyn O’Brien, Leawood, Kansas, Secretary Marian Andersen, Omaha, Nebraska, Treasurer Christopher Abele, Kansas City, Missouri John Paul Batiste, Austin, Texas Noland Blass, Little Rock, Arkansas Ann Buchanan, Wichita, Kansas Jennifer S. Clark, Omaha, Nebraska Carolyn Dillon, Hutchinson, Kansas Elizabeth K. Doenges, Tulsa, Oklahoma Alejandrina Drew, El Paso, Texas Robert Duncan, Lincoln, Nebraska Suzy Finesilver, San Antonio, Texas Lillie Fontenot, Houston, Texas Joanie Holt, Midland, Texas Dorothy Ilgen, Topeka, Kansas Donald A. Johnston, Lawrence, Kansas Alexander C. Kemper, Kansas City, Missouri MaryLanden, Omaha, Nebraska Linda Lee, Topeka, Kansas Carl McCaffree, Shawnee Mission, Kansas Adair Margo, El Paso, Texas Patricia B. Meadows, Dallas, Texas Dr. Helen Nunn, Blytheville, Arkansas Dr. James C. Olson, Kansas City, Missouri Loren G. Olsson, Scottsbluff, Nebraska Dr. Thomas D. Pawley III, Jefferson City, Missouri Betty Price, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Elizabeth Pruet, El Dorado, Arkansas Bill Puppione, Little Rock, Arkansas George A. Singer, Tulsa, Oklahoma James Tolbert, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Art Thompson, Lincoln, Nebraska Obert M. Undem, Fayetteville, Arkansas Kathleen P. Westby, Tulsa, Oklahoma Jerome M. Westheimer Sr., Ardmore, Oklahoma Henry Moran, Executive Director Will Conner, Chief Operating Officer Edeen Martin, Director of Programs, President of ExhibitsUSA

6

HOWARDENA PINDELL

Acknowledgements

Maty Kennedy McCabe ExhibitsUSA We are pleased to present

to Mr. Howard Pindell,

effort of many individuals:

the Arts, and private

the national tour of Howar-

Heath Gallery, June Kelly

Diana Cooper, interim

contributors.

deria Pindell: A Retrospective.

Gallery, Bellevue Hospital,

director of the Roland

The works included in this

George N’Namdi Gallery,

Gibson Art Gallery, State

ExhibitsUSA staff for their

exhibition represent

William and Gloriajohn-

University of New York at

commitment to excellence

Pindell’s skillful manipu¬

son, Dr. Hills Howard,

Potsdam; Gary Ray Buga-

in preparing this exhibi¬

lation of multi-media and

and Dr. Dexter Fields and

rich of Crozier Fine Arts;

tion for touring. Thanks to

her quest to create works

Dr. Margaret Betts.

Nashormeh Lindo, educa¬

Patricia Fitzpatrick,

tion programs manager at

Kathy Stump, Kristen Gladsky, Edana Elder,

which are not merely

It has been a pleasure to

Finally, thanks to the

about artmaking, but

work with Georgia

the Schomberg Center for

about living life. We are

Coopersmith, director of

Research in Black Culture;

Eric Lindveit, Christopher

most grateful to Howar-

the Longwood Fine Arts

Naomi Nelson of the Studio

Ketchie, Noel Ashby, and

dena for her remarkable

Center, Longwood

Museum in Harlem; Ellen

Jana Brunner. In addition,

contribution to contempo¬

College, Virginia, who

Giusti, a private consultant;

thanks to the Board of

rary art and for her

curated this exhibition and

Richard McClintock, direc¬

Directors and staff of Mid-

gracious assistance in

first brought it to our

tor of publications at

America Arts Alliance for

organizing this

attention. We appreciate

Hampden-Sydney College;

their ongoing support of

retrospective.

the fine work of the

and Susan Hyde, an inde¬

ExhibitsUSA.

contributors to this cata¬

pendent graphic designer.

This exhibition would not have been possible

logue: Lowery Sims, asso¬

without the cooperation of

ciate curator of 20th-

division of Mid-America

those who have generously

century art at the Metro¬

Arts Alliance, is supported

lent Howardena’s artwork

politan Museum of Art;

by the Lila Wallace-

for the duration of the

Grace Stanislaus, director

Reader’s Digest Fund, the

tour. Our sincerest thanks

of the Bronx Museum; and

H&R Block Foundation,

ExhibitsUSA, a national

Holland Cotter, critic for

the Samuel H. Kress Foun¬

Art in America and The New

dation, the Phillips Petro¬

York Times. An exhibition

leum Foundation, and the

of this magnitude would

Union Pacific Foundation.

not be possible without the

Mid-America Arts Alliance is assisted by its six partner state arts agencies, the National Endowment for

PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS

7

Foreword Grace Stanislaus Bronx Museum of Arts A successful retrospective

first exhibition in which

numbered pin dots made

Extended periods of

exhibition offers the public

the artist is given full voice

from templates. Pindell’s

travel and immersion in

a visual biography: a

through the inclusion of

work is now polarized

non-Westem cultures have

selected body of work by

her writings on art and

between those that are

opened an aperture for

which to chart and to assess

politics. This exhibition

elegantly refined and

Pindell to understand the

an artist’s professional and

provides the appropriate

focussed on the texturatity

global dimensions of the

personal growth. The

vocabulary with which we

of surfaces overlaid with

social and political issues

Roland Gibson Gallery

can transcribe the experi¬

acrylic, oil, perfume, glit¬

addressed in her work.

has undertaken a daunting

ences deeply imprinted in

ter, cut and painted post¬

Numerous trips

challenge in organizing a

the fabric of Pindell’s art

cards, and those that

abroad, to Africa, Japan,

retrospective of the work

and life: art training inter¬

address harsher social and

India, South America,

of Howardena Pindell.

mixed with consciousness-

political realities: homeless¬

Europe and the Carib¬

How do you select from

raising lessons on racism

ness, AIDS, the ravages of

bean, have also provided

and make publicly compre¬

and sexism at Boston

war, genocide, sexism,

a critical source of artistic

hensible twenty years in the

University and Yale

xenophobia, and apart¬

and spiritual replenish¬

life of a highly prolific

University; participation

heid. The sharp-edged,

ment. The works based

artist? How do you sensi¬

in the Civil Rights and

spitfire commentary in

on her travels are rich in

tively unravel the myriad

women’s movement and

Pindell’s recent work and

allusions to memory, recol¬

facets of a complex and

the eventual break with the

publications have re-

lection, and the past. They

mature human being?

latter because of racism in

emerged from the activist

attempt to communicate a

Pindell has participated in

the ranks; firsthand expe¬

years of the 1960s and

sense of place: glitter remi¬

over three hundred exhibi¬

rience of institutionally-

1970s, when her astute

niscent of a waterfall in

tions nationally and inter¬

sanctioned, exclusionary'

social and political

South America or

nationally; has received

practices at the Museum of

conscience was awakened.

perfume applied on the

numerous prestigious

Modern Art; travels

awards; has been reviewed

abroad that nurtured her

alternative and main¬

of a festival honoring a

in innumerable publica¬

artistically and spiritually;

stream publications,

Yoruba goddess, or the

tions and has herself writ¬

and a near-fatal car crash

Pindell has clearly stated

iconic image of an Indian

ten many articles on politi¬

that transformed her

her agenda for document¬

god or goddess that recol¬

cal and art-related issues.

body, mind, and spirit.

ing insidious racism and

lects spiritual meditation

discrimination. Guided

in a Buddhist shrine.

This is not Howardena

Compared to the more

In her writing in both

surface to elicit memories

Pindell’s first retrospec¬

recent political work,

by an outraged conscience,

Pindell’s travels have also

tive. It is, however, the

Pindell’s earlier mixed

she hasjangled the nerves

become an allegory for her

media works were quiet,

of many in the New York

spiritual journey; for a

subdued, cool, sensual.

art scene by fastidiously

quest to find a single cultu¬

Typically based on a grid

tracking and exposing

ral thread in her multicul¬

structure, they explored

their racist practices. This

tural ancestry and, more

nuanced color, tight,

form of agit-prop confron¬

generally, for the explora¬

movement, form on

tation through the printed

tion of how cultural iden¬

stained and painted

medium is a critical facet

tity is constructed and by

canvases and in serialized

of Pindell’s art that has yet

whom. “I wanted to do

imagery of colored or

to be thoroughly assessed.

autobiographical paint-

8

HOWARDENA PINDELL

ings because I wanted to get to the guts of my own past,” is how Pindell explains the genesis of the ongoing series of large canvases tided Autobiography. Pindell, along with Adrian Piper, Faith Ringgold, Alma Thomas, and Betye Sarr, has been included on revisionist lists of Black women who have “made it” into the main¬ stream. But she continues to to be wary of these efforts at inclusivity and to distrust the New York art scene, having flushed out beneath its codified hierar¬ chical structure, designed for and by white males, an occasional bias toward white females and a histor¬ ical bias against artists of color. Undoubtedly, well beyond this exhibition, Howardena Pindell will use her art and critical writing as vehicles to expose racism, sexism, classism, and social injustice, recog¬ nizing that these forms of oppression have histori¬ cally had and will likely continue to have a strangle¬ hold on our culture.

Columbus, 1992. Detail.

PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS

9

A Resolutely Globaljoumey: The Life and Work of Howardena Pindell Holland Cotter media—painting, photo¬

the effect of African cloth

and her feminist involve¬

commentator has noted,

graphy, video—often

made from pounded fiber

ment proved to be the first

Howardena Pindell is a

returning to further

and natural dyes. That

decisive step on the road of

As more than one

traveller by temperament.

explore techniques used

Pindell’s work at this time

political activism which

This has many implica¬

earlier. The sense of

suggests both western and

Pindell still follows today.

tions for her life and art,

circling back gives her

non-western influences is

Pindell’s work through

but it clearly establishes

career a textured, woven

indicative of the mixed

the 70s is complex and

two general facts: she

quality, with apparent

cultural and spiritual path

richly varied, and

invites change and discon¬

false starts resolved in

she was already travelling.

tinuity; and she thrives on

unexpected ways, and

the idea of goals achieved.

loose ends left loose with

PindelTs own back¬ ground is polycultural to

These abstractions

included the use of innovative techniques for

from the early 70s are also

disassembling the painting

tantalizing implications

the closest Pindell’s work

medium into fragments

for the future.

ever came to the look of

and then reconstituting it

Minimalism—a style

in the form of collage. She

includes African, Euro¬

painting in the early 60s

which, with its frequent

would typically take plain

pean, Native American

is in a traditional—and

evocation of cool, inviol¬

paper, or paper she had

(specifically Seminole),

extremely accomplished—

able power, went entirely

painted with watercolor

Central American, and

figurative style, marked

against her grain. In fact,

or oil pastels, and hand-

Afro-Caribbean ancestry.

by a particular gift for

the darkness of her work at

punch it into tiny circles

Although raised a Chris¬

conveying the fall of light

this time may be attrib¬

with an ordinary paper-

tian, she is partjewish

on solid forms. As a gradu¬

uted to the fact that she

puncher. She gathered the

through a great¬

ate student at Yale, she

painted mosdy at night;

punched circles, often indi¬

grandfather, and has

continued in this vein but

her days were spent work¬

vidually numbered them

pursued both Buddhist and

also for the first time

ing in various curatorial

in ink, then glued them in

Hindu spiritual practices.

ventured into abstraction.

capacities at New York’s

confetti-like layers to sewn

Since leaving her home in

an unusual degree and

Her undergraduate

The stained paintings she

Museum of Modem Art.

sheets of graph paper,

Philadelphia in her teens to

did a few years after grad¬

Increasingly in the 70s she

board, or canvas.

attend Boston University,

uation remain stunning

favored the handmade,

she has travelled exten¬

today. On unstretched

process-oriented, even

tions, the results have a

sively in five continents. In

canvas, as many of her

craft-intensive approach

vaguely scientific air

With their inked nota¬

two and a half decades as a

paintings are, they have

to art that has proved to

(Pindell’s father, one notes,

professional artist, she has

the appearance of vast

be her natural bent. This

has a graduate degree in

worked in a variety of

dark fields from which

formal preference—a

statistics); at the same time

10

HOWARDENA PINDELL

light emanates; Ad Rein¬

kind of take-off on the

hardt’s “black paintings”

women’s-work-is-never-

are an acknowledged

done approach to art—

model. They also convey

found a response in the

the impression of pigment

nascent feminist move¬

having been beaten into

ment, with which for a

the surface rather than

time Pindell aligned

simply applied with a

herself. She was one of the

brush; in this they recall

founders of A.I.R. gallery,

they look remarkably

Modern Art, she visited

produced in the early 80s.

painterly. It as if Seurat’s

Africa, travelling through

Just before this time,

making collages from

little molecular strokes had

Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria,

however, two events effec¬

postcards and photos,

this that she first began

here been rendered as

Ivory Coast, and Senegal.

tively signalled the closing

using the images thera¬

materially discrete and

The next year she went to

of one path of her life and

peutically to help restore

separable atoms. Unlike

Egypt. Brazil followed in

the opening of another.

her interrupted memory.

Seurat, however, Pindell

19 7 7. She spent seven

In 1979 she quit her posi¬

Her technique for making

seems deliberately to keep

months on a fellowship in

tion as Associate Curator

the collages had the work¬

the line between integra¬

Japan in 1981, and visited

in the Department of

intensive, piecing-together

tion and disintegration

India four times. The

Prints and Illustrated

approach to art that she

blurred. The work at this

stays in the latter country

Books at MoMA and

had long favored: she cut

point in her career—both

(one in which, as it

assumed the position of

the photos into small strips

the collages of punched

happens, the spiritual and

Associate Professor of Art

and glued them onto solid

circles and work consisting

decorative are interactive)

at the State University of

backing material in

entirely of overlapping-

were in part inspired by

New York at Stony Brook

fanlike formations. The

sheets of semi-transparent

the Hindu spiritual prac¬

(where she is now tenured

completed collages incor¬

gridded paper which set up

tice Pindell was engaged

as Full Professor). This

porate several views from

depths of receding

in at that time.

patterns—have a wonder¬

Photographs and post¬

change in work habits

a single country of city,

permitted increased atten¬

and fragment each of these

tion to art making.

views into smaller compo¬

ful elegance and beauty,

cards from these trips,

although their effect of

along with others sent to

lightness is deceptive.

her by friends, became

ries sustained in an auto

of seeing a culture from

Adding bits of printed

the raw material for an

accident resulted in severe

multiple perspectives and

fabrics, string, thread,

extraordinary series of

memory loss. It was

in minute shutter-action

and glitter to her basic

collages which Pindell

during the aftermath of

repetitions.

In the same year, inju¬

nent pieces. The effect was

punched forms, Pindell creates what might be called an adamant deco¬ rativeness, a deliberate challenge to the “mascu¬ line” rigors of quantifica¬ tion and classification that have for centuries domi¬ nated science and art. Around the time she was working on these pieces, Pindell began the extensive travelling that punctuated her career through the 70s and into the 80s. In 1973, under the auspices of the Museum of

Untitled (1970) Detail, showing hand-punched circles and heavy texturing. (Sculpt-metal, paper on board.)

PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS

11

For the first time

the now-legendary video

ers who had failed her—as

literally travelled out into

Pindell began using

titled, “Free, White, and

well as more general polit¬

the world, exploring its

vibrant color in her work

21,” in which she appeared

ical issues. Although

various material and spir¬

and the results are extraor¬

both as a herself—a Black

Pindell had already

itual features; she turned

dinarily vivid. Although

woman, wrapping a white

addressed political issues in

her back for self-reflection,

she has spoken of these

gauze bandage around her

a variety of ways, this was

and has lately turned out

head as she related inci¬

the first time that she had

again in a different,

ing between more rigorous

dents of racial abuse she

fully engaged painting as

reformist spirit. The scope

esthetic tasks, they in fact

had experienced since

an activist medium.

collages as a means of rest¬

Pindell’s new paintings

of her journey so far has been resolutely global, and

constitute a powerful and

childhood—and, in a

resilient body of work.

blond wig, as the title

dramatically pursue this

In recent examples, she has

figure who accuses her

direction, addressing,

From the little hand-

promises to continue to be.

given them rippling and

of paranoia. The tape is

head on, the afflictions

punched collages of the 70s

convex carapace-like

a general indictment of

of homelessness, war,

to her recent polemics on

surfaces, creating some¬

racism; it was also specif¬

disease with which our age

social issues, few other

thing very close to sculp¬

ically directed at the femi¬

is beset. Her use of collage,

bodies of work combine

tural relief. She has also

nist movement which

of roughly torn and sewn

delicacy and anger as

applied strips of paint

Pindell had come to

cloth, has become excited

successfully as Pindell’s

between the photographic

perceive as racist in its

and angry; material frag¬

does. It is, ultimately, in

fragments to extend an

attitude toward women

mentation assumes distinct

that combination that the

image across a wider

of color.

political implications. The

key to her wholeness-

scale of the work has

in-diversity lies.

expanse. The effect of the

The video was created,

series as a whole is to

collage-like, from images

grown larger, and more

create a sensation of opti¬

spliced together to form

text is incorporated into

cal and temporal move¬

a coherent, progressive

the paintings (an appropri¬

ment—radiating outward

statement. Pindell’s major

ate addition from an artist

from a center in earlier

paintings from the early

who is herself a forceful

pieces, stretching hori¬

80s to the mid-80s were

and careful writer, as this

zontally in more recent

made from a similar join¬

catalogue reveals), as if the

work—that simulates a

ing of parts, now accom¬

images alone were insuf¬

traveller’s perspective:

plished with needle and

ficient to register the

fragmentary, disoriented,

thread. She sewed strips

strength of her protest. Clearly Pindell’s varied

piecemeal, slowly resolving

of canvas together to

into a whole.

form large, amorphous,

journey is continuing

In the 80s Pindell

organic-looking shapes.

apace, and from this mid¬

returned to the painted

These she painted with a

career vantage, the

figure that she had begun

cross-hatching of small

patterns of its progress can

with, but put it to different

parallel paint strokes

be discerned. From a

use in new media. Auto¬

which created something

traditional beginning, she

biography, that search to

like the texture of an all-

moved into the meditative

the center of self, was her

over weave. It was this

realms of chromatic

“fabric” that bound

abstraction; from there she

subject. In 1980 she made

together the disparate images imbedded in the painting. They included in some instances Pindell’s own figure, surrounded by specific references to her family and the details of her own past—incidents of racism, spiritual lead¬

12

HOWARDENA PINDELL

Synthesis and Integration in the Work of Howardena Pindell, 1972-1992 Lowery Stokes Sims Metropolitan Museum of Art Prelude

years, I have been privi¬

augmented by sculptural

decade in a process of self¬

In the 1986 catalogue for

leged to have been an occa¬

hair arrangements or

reclamation and defini¬

the exhibition of of

sional tourist on the Pin¬

permanent alterations of

tion in both her art and

Howardena Pindell’s work

dell odyssey, and the

the body’s surface, such as

her life. She has made a

at the Studio Museum in

commentary offered in

scarifications... as well as

transition in her art from

Harlem, Curator Terri

this essay comes from that

tattooing and skin paint¬

one that seemed to be

Rouse noted: “Like Odys¬

perspective.

seus’s adventurers in

ing or tinting. ... The

generated by prevailing

accumulation and aggre¬

formalist ideologies of the

gation of elements is a

1960s and early 1970s to a more overtly figurative

Homer’s Odyssey, Pindell’s

The Groundwork

work has been an adven¬

In 1984 Howardena

distinctive characteristic

ture, a quest in the skillful

Pindell published an essay,

of African aesthetic....

and polemical art (often

manipulation of multi-

“The Aesthetics of Texture

The components of this

cast under the rubric of

media (oil, acrylic, paper,

in African Adornment,”

assemblage can be re¬

‘ ‘post-modernism”).

handmade paper, found

in the catalogue for an

arranged so that its visual

objects, fabric, fragrance,

exhibition on African

textural drama is altered

powder, postcards, and

body adornment at the

by both light and motion.

the layers of obfuscation

photographic images).”1

African American Insti¬

A direct antecedent of this

with which assimilation

tute in New York.

aesthetic is the surface

and acculturation have

Homeric imagery of

She wrote, “In Africa the

tension that is built up by

disguised her multi-ethnic

wandering is as apt an

geometry and texture of

the aggregated elements.”2

background. 3 While

analogy for Pindell’s actual

the individual human

travel activities as for her

body engages in an ever-

much in this statement

artistic explorations

changing dialogue with

about the work of Howar¬

lenged artists of African-

during the last 20 years.

the adornment selected by

dena Pindell as there is

American descent for at

During the late 1970s and

the wearer. Placing the

about aspects of African

least 150 years, in the case

early 1980s the cycle of her

objects on zones of the

adornment and aesthetic

of Pindell the question has

life revolved around trips

body, the wearer is able to

judgment. There was a

come full-circle.

of substantial duration—

convey messages not only

time when such assertions

some up to six or seven

of beauty or sexual allure,

of connections between an

The Situation

Rouse’s use of the

In retrospect there is as

Concurrently she has gradually peeled away at

questions of identity and antecedence have chal¬

months at a time—to

but also of status, rank,

artist’s ethnicity and their

Pindell is one of several

places that are still exotic

age, tribal identification,

work would not have been

African-American artists

to the rest of us: Japan,

and aesthetics, as well as of

countenanced in tire art

who came to the notice of

India, Africa, and Brazil,

a state of mind or a desire

world. Within the spheres

the art world in the late

just to name a few. Each

to placate or seek protec¬

of anthropology and socio¬

1960s and 1970s, and who

trip, each experience

tion from the environ¬

logy it may still be provoc¬

challenged unilateral desig¬

seemed to bring new input

ment. This intricate inter¬

ative to claim a certain

nations of their work as

to her work, effecting

action between inner

“racial memory” as the

“Black art” and by impli¬

dramatic changes over the

thoughts and outer body

source of one’s decisions—

cation “political art.”

years which were not

reality—hair texture, tone

lest it suggest some kind of

Along with A1 Loving, William T. Williams, Sam

merely about art making,

of skin, proportion,

determinism. But Pindell

but about living life.

height, angularity, and

herself has been actively

Gilliam, Frank Bowling,

flexibility—is further

involved during the last

and Peter Bradley, Pindell

During the last 20

PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS

13

explored various permuta¬

reminisced about that

placed one on top of the

A skilled practitioner of

tions of the geometric and

trip, so it was with great

other like isolated stills

color-field techniques,

coloristic abstractions that

interest that I walked into

from a film. These

Pindell had used her signa¬

were touted in the art

Howardena’s exhibition

artworks, related to more

ture dots to create nuances

world. Because this coin¬

at the Cyrus Gallery in

recent events in Pindell’s

of space and atmosphere

cided with the Civil Rights

New York City in Octo¬

life (1981), were presented

since the late 1960s. By the

movement and the Femi¬

ber 1989 and saw Ciba-

within a more advanced

mid-1970s, she was

photographic format.

involved in a metaphor¬

nist movement, Pindell in

chrome photographs

particular was challenged

taken in Nigeria in 1973,

by a multitude of stances

enhanced and manipu¬

ment prepared for the

reconstruction in her

that would seek to stake

lated with acrylic and

Cyms Gallery exhibition:

work, often cutting the

their claim on her creativ¬

tempera. The imagery

“I sought solace during

canvas in strips and

ity. Pindell has dealt with

was segmented and drawn

these trips in studying and

sewing them back

those'demands in a way

out, framed as pairs in a

practicing, in some cases,

together, creating registers

that manifests a progres¬

kind of stereoptic vision

universal spiritual tradi¬

on which she would build

sive narrowing of the gap

that elevated these images

tions as a link to under¬

up the surface in elaborate

between herself as the crea¬

of “our” trip from a

standing the culture. I was

stages: painting a sheet of

Pindell wrote in a state¬

ical process of destruction/

tor of her subject matter

simple memento to a

also searching for alterna¬

paper, punching out dots

and herself as the subject

formal critique of percep¬

tive modes of living, think¬

from it, dropping the dots

matter of her art. This can

tion and vision. The work

ing, and seeing.” 4

onto her canvas, finally

It was evident that

squeegeeing- paint through

be observed through vari¬

ofjiri Kollar (‘Foliage”),

ous phases of her career

and Robert Rauschenberg

Pindell had begun to

the “stencil” left in the

and through an examina¬

[Quarter Mile Painting) are

examine her past in order

paper from which she had

tion of the different issues

recalled in the adroit

to clarify it and, at the

punched the dots. The

in the world at large that

formal sense of these

same time, to enrich the

scale of these works—

have interested her at that

photographs of our

perception of the present.

invariably meant to be

particular point.

common experience.

But whereas the experi¬

installed unstretched—was

I first met Howardena Pindell in the spring of

Some were in color, some

ences lived and the media

quite substantial. Occa¬

in black and white; one of

utilized were multiple,

sionally the reconstruction

1973. That summer we

the latter (of the Oba’s

within the totality of

of the paintings took the

visited several African

palace in Lagos) seemed

Pindell’s art there is a

format of interweaving

nations (Kenya, Nigeria,

especially to place that

constant guiding force

strips of canvas in a

Ghana, Ivory Coast, and

experience within a time

that lends an incredible

horizontal-vertical

Senegal), traveling on

which was fast approach¬

continuity and cohesion

relationship, again build¬

to her work.

ing a luscious surface

grants from our respective

ing the hazy realm of

institutions (the Museum of

nostalgia according to the

Modem Art and the

souped-up post-modem

aligned with the Establishing a Style

understructure.

Metropolitan Museum of

time that often loops

In the early 1970s Pindell

Art). The trip lasted two

around in space to retread

had a studio on Seventh

remembers, the principle

months. It was a startling-

one’s youth for the third

Avenue and 28th Street.

referent for her work was

revelation for us both, and

time within a generation.

She was leading a double

the elliptical imagery of

life as a curator and an

Larry Poons. But it was

we both arrived back in

Next to it were photo¬

Up to that time, Pindell

the United States having-

graphs of other trips—to

artist, and with great

clear by the mid-1970s

been jolted to a new plane

Japan, to Egypt.

perseverance and integrity

that she was doing some¬

of awareness about the

Subjected to the same

she managed to keep both

thing quite distinct from

actual relationship we

spatio-temporal manipu¬

persona distinct and out of

optical abstraction.

could have with the

lations by means of the

conflict. Pindell’s work was

Pindell had also been a

Motherland that had

serial juxtapositions of

undergoing a number of

founding member of the

haunted our consciousness

multiple versions of the

changes in this period. She

women’s cooperative

as African-American

same segments in discrete

had begun to rethink her

A.I.R. in the early 1970s,

women. We have often

extensions, these were

approach to painting.

so it was easy to read these

14

HOWARDENA PINDELL

works as Pindell’s manipu¬

Philadelphia Museum of

through a more intense

1970s, she did so as well

lation of the language of

Art. A self-portrait done

accumulation of dots on

with her paper works.

minimalism and formal¬

in the 1960s is imbued

the surface of her work.

The expected two-

ism to a womanist interest.

with the enigmatic quality

Certainly the painstak¬

dimensional quality was

Pindell’s video draw¬

and broad definition of

ings—images taken from

challenged when Pindell

ing process by which she

the encaustic portraits of

the television—are

began to suspend threads

constructed her paintings

Fayum. To complete the

another approach to this

anchored on nails that

invited such a surface read¬

metaphor Pindell has

deconstructivist attitude.

signposted the junctures of

ing; however, as she recalls

rendered her portrait in

The resulting photographs

the grid on the boards. As

that period, Pindell sees a

wax! The Egyptian refer¬

emphasize the graininess

the dots were dropped

structural connection

ence may also be seen in

of the electronically trans¬

onto the board, the seem¬

between her loose-hung,

the frieze-like registers of

mitted image, breaking it

ingly random positioning

strip-constructed canvases

certain of the strip paint¬

down just one level so that

provided an interesting

and African textiles, which

ings of 1971 -74. The

we begin to focus on the

tension in tandem with the

were shown at the Museum

works on paper done at

structure of matter trans¬

taut structure of the grid.

of Modern Art from Octo¬

this time also evince the

mitted as impulse. Also by

They were allowed to

ber 11, 1972 tojanuary 31,

connection, perhaps even

artful choices of image

accumulate along the

1973—-just before our trip

more cogently.

Pindell has at her disposal

length of the nails, and

a particularly accessible

even cling, defying grav¬

to West Africa.5 A group

Pindell’s early hand¬

of resist prints from the

made paper works were

medium for political

ity, to the threads. By

Ivory Coast, included in

eccentrically-shaped semi-

commentary, and she has

comparison, an earlier

the MoMA exhibition,

translucent sheets that

added numbers, direc¬

grid work of 1971 features

feature dotted patterns set

evoked vellum or papyrus,

tional lines, and subtitles to

a large-scale slack grid

in repetitions that were

in which the signature dots

the photographs. She has

constructed from stuffed

slightly askew, similar to

were embedded. She

worked on these intermit¬

and rolled canvas casings.

the seemingly random

would often hang them so

tently since 1973. The

Compared to the works of

positioning of the dots in

that they swung free,

earliest images focused on

1974-77, it is positively

such works as the 1971

instead of encasing them

sporting events, and the

Oldenburgian in its

Untitled acrylic, now in the

in matboard, glass, and

notations took on the char¬

gargantuan ribaldry. All

collection of the Whitney

frame. The spatial dimen¬

acter of play-by-play

these works, however, are

Museum of American Art.

sion of Pindell’s work was

charts conceived of as

united in concept and

replete in these works.

some greater cosmic plan.

spirit by Pindell’s confront¬

Taken in tandem with

Later images from the

She also remembers being particularly

ing anew the challenge

attracted to the beads

other paper works, such as

1980s responded to the

which had preoccupied

shown in the same exhibi¬

the dots laid within the

almost overwhelming-

American artists in New

tion. As a young girl

individual squares of

documentary evidence of

York in the 1940s: trying

Pindell had fabricated

graph paper and

geo-political atrocities—

to reconcile structure and

beaded pins which she sold

numbered randomly, these

torture, famine, apart¬

automatism.

to her classmates in elemen¬

works show the inherent

heid, displacement. On

tary school, and one of the

atomizing which is ulti¬

these and other images of

newer coloristic impulse

highlights of our trip was a

mately the basis of

political duplicity the

seemed to have invaded

session bargaining for

Pindell’s artmaking. She

numbering serves to

Pindell’s works, and some

trade beads on the lawn

once joked that the

remind us of the magni¬

of the dots became bril¬

of the residence of the

numbers on the dots were

tude of suffering in the

liantly colored sequins.

American ambassador

added in response to how

world. Ironic labeling rein¬

I had observed with some

to Ghana.

many dots there were in

forces the pungency of

interest an interplay

These parallels with

her work. For Pindell

Pindell’s observations.

between the work of

African art were a logical

initially the numbers

extension of Pindell’s

provided a visually varie¬

ning to build up the

Pindell at this time.

attraction to Egyptian art,

gated pattern that would

surfaces of her paintings in

Hammons, like Pindell,

which she first saw at the

subsequently be achieved

the second half of the

was using a grid system,

By the later 1970s, a

As Pindell was begin¬

David Hammons and

PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS

15

or at least a serial system of

textiles through the appli¬

first time. It was even a

to attribute to Andean

folding and patterning in

cation of beadwork, “ ...

means by which artists

weavings.10

his brown paper bag

in which the clustered and

could introduce non-

works and hair pieces.

rippling effect is caused by

European syntax into

Emerging

As these two media occa¬

the beads’ relation to the

art—as seen by Joyce

By 1979 Pindell had left

sionally merged, he too

support fabric, as well as

Kozloffs celebration of

her job at the Museum of

added sequins, and built up

by the building up of

Islamic pattern—but,

Modem Art to teach at the

the surface with collaged

tension into the warp and

as has been noted, Pindell’s

State University of New

elements of hair and wire

woof of the network

approach to art goes

York at Stony Brook.

along the ridges of the

armature of threads....

beyond mere contempla¬

At the time the change was

regularly folded sections of

Figure and ground rela¬

tion of the surface or

welcome, because at last

the brown paper bags.

tionships also scintillate

considerations of pattern.

her art work could become

and may reverse, height¬

It not only engages long-

the central focus of her life.

impulse took on additional

ening the visual surface

suppressed cultural reten¬

Just a few months after

symbolic meaning in the

tension as the sense of

tions, but also addresses

Pindell began her newjob, '

wake of a visit to Brazil in

background and fore¬

perceptual, even psychic,

however, she suffered an

1977 where she again

ground dissolve.”

dimensions of the artist’s

automobile accident

encountered Africa, this

She would later come to

relationship to the

which injured her head

time in the Orisha culture

see the multi-colored dots

environment.

and left her contending

of the Candomble. In 1982

in such paintings as

she exhibited December 31,

conveying the essence of

1980: Brazil: Feast of Iemanja

Pindell's coloristic

One critical evaluation

with memory loss. The so-

of her work which appre¬

called Oval Memory series

her own self as a composite

ciated this distinction was

was a means by which

(1980) in the exhibition

of many cultures and

written by Linda Goode-

Pindell got in touch with

Afro-American Abstraction.6

many backgrounds.

Bryant and Marcy S.

her past. An inveterate

Philips in 1978. Including

collector of postcards,

mered in the white stone¬

The “stuff” of it

Pindell among the “Con-

Pindell had kept boxes of

walled galleries of P.S. 1,

Pindell’s appreciation of,

texturalists”—a group of

cards, some sent by

evoking a coquettish

and predilection towards,

artists involved with imbu¬

friends or her mother,

goddess of the sea, who

manipulating materials

ing abstract and concep¬

some collected during her

along with her Haitian

was, as we have seen,

tual systems with

various travels. Oval Series

counterpart Erzulie and

distinct from color field

content—Goode-Bryant

II: Castle Dragon, 1980-81

die West African synthesis

abstraction. No more was

and Philips observed

(Collection, The Metropol¬

Mami Watta rules the

it at home within the

aspects of “energy, mysti¬

itan Museum of Art) is a

destinies of lovers. The

“pattern and decoration”

cism, automatism, and

collage that features scenes

This painting fairly shim¬

date in the title refers to the

tendency that emerged in

ritual process” in Pindell’s

of historical European

assiduously followed

the art world in the 1970s.

work.8 They also

architecture, but as one

Brazilian New Year’s eve

This revival of decoration

remarked on her inclusion

turns the collage around (it

ritual, in which young-

in the arts was an interval

of additional materials

is meant to be looked at

lovers send out lit candles

between formalist abstrac¬

such as hair in her work,

from all sides) one catches

on paper boats into the

tion of the 1960s and the

which is seen again in the

a glimpse of a Brahma

ocean as a sacrifice to

return to content and figu¬

late 1980s when she incor¬

cow, an octopus, and a

Yemanja.

ration in the 1980s. It has

porated her own blood

lighthouse with palm trees

also been seen as a point in

into Autobiography:

swaying in the proverbial

the catalogue of the exhibi¬

art when “feminist”

Air/CS60.9 The “visual

breeze. The extension of

tion, Kingsley reiterated

interest in handwork and

suspense ... created as

form through the repeti¬

the reading of Pindell’s

patternmaking (as exem¬

color dots blend into textu¬

tion of discretely progres¬

encrusted grids as textile

plified in the work of

ral fields” that they

sive views of a scene or

surfaces. Three years later

Miriam Shapiro and

observed in her work was

objects (a technique to be

Pindell herself would elabo¬

Robert Zakanich) was

an early evocation of an

seen later in the manipu¬

rate on the creation of

accommodated by the

additional influence

lated photographs of our

surface tension in African

“serious” art world for the

Pindell has since come

African trip) first appears

In her introduction to

16

HOWARDENA PINDELL

here, and Pindell continues

floating worlds in some

at once from the vestiges of

‘Japanese memories

to nail and “atomize” or at

pre-Galilean universe, or

Renaissance perspective,

become intermingled...

least facetize the forms,

alternately nebulae of solar

by engaging the incipient

with those from other

creating a prismatic effect

systems. She notes that the

sculptural impulse that had

travels;... the floral

that conveys the illusion of

eccentricity of these

been manifesting itself in

border of a medieval

a third dimension. That

shapes—in which she

her work since the late

manuscript emerges with

dimensional aspect is

finally forgoes the grid—

1970s, and from Western

linear, snow-covered

achieved in later versions

was probably the result of

cosmology, by exploring

cherry trees, and a

of these memory collages

her navigating the asym¬

Japanese and Indian alter¬

European street scene

where—as seen in a group

metrical, maze-like spaces

native views of the world.

dissolves intojapanese

done using Japanese

of Japan.11 Rather than

ready-made commercial

dealing with the fact of

1980s the new spatial

imagery—Pindell shapes

UFOs, Pindell focused on

arenas that grew out of the

another crucial develop¬

the composite scenes into

the shift in our perspective

Oval Memory works and the

ment in Pindell’s work, as

the form of traditional

on our world and the

freely-formed circular and

she made herself explicitly

Japanese armor, either

universe that would be

ovoid forms of unstretched

its subject. In a video, Free,

helmets or shields.

effected by the very fact of

canvas, like those in the

White and 21, shown as part

the existence of vehicles

UFO Show, were further

of the exhibition Dialectics

that could take us out to

tested, and variations on

of Isolation (organized by

images from her past

space. During the same

the spatial strategies were

Ana Mendieta), Pindell

Pindell would eventually

period, Pindell’s contem¬

devised. As seen in the

alternately swathed her

reconstruct her memory;

porary A1 Loving was

Japan Series (from visits in

head in white gauze and

but beyond that it would

working on his version of

1979 and 1981) and the

appeared in white face

became a means by which

post-Hofmannian space in

India Series (visits in 1975,

with a blonde wig, while

Through this painstak¬ ing reconstruction of

^

From the early to mid-

calligraphy.”15 The early 1980s saw

she would break through

painting.12 While

1984, 1986, and 1989)

reciting a litany of racial

the confines of even incipi¬

Pindell’s version came

Pindell was elaborately

abuse visited on her and

ent remnants of western

directly from a more

embellishing the surfaces of

her mother—mental and

galactical concept of

the collages by painting

emotional as well as physi¬

space, Loving was adapt¬

over the photographic

cal assaults. Pindell’s

contributed a work to The

ing Monet’s universe—

images so that, as Ellen

dialogue in the video, in

UFO Show, organized by

the lily-padded pond of

Elsas notes, “. .. glossy

which she is constantly

artist and UFO expert

Giverny—to another

postcards of perfect tourist

confronted by the desire of

Budd Hopkins at the

dimension. In Loving’s

vistas are splintered by

the white establishment to

Queens Museum, that

work the viewpoint of the

hazier continuations of the

deny and denigrate her

perspectival space. In 1982, Pindell

further explored this

artist was focused down¬

same scene painted in

blackness, to demand

process of atomization and

ward into the horizonless

matte tempera.... Mass-

complacency in return for

synthesis, heretofore

space of water, where the

produced photographic

limited access to the estab¬

largely expressed by means

lily pad became the meta¬

images of the Japanese

lishment, seemed to echo

of material and technique.

phor for the space saucer.

landscape are altered to

Mendieta’s comments in

In this work, a series of

Like Barnett Newman,

become a part of a

the introduction to the

oval unstretched canvas

whose “zips” may be seen

personal memory of places

catalogue for Dialectics of

shapes were “adorned” by

as markers from space

or events.”13 Elsas notes an

Isolation: “Do we exist? ...

Pindell’s habitual encrusta¬

down to earth from the

even richer spatial play

To question our culture is

tions of dot forms, but now

horizonless position of

when Pindell combined in

to question our own exis¬

embedded in the surfaces

outer space, Loving

one work, for example,

tence, our human reality.

were momentary breaks

persisted in these works to

several views of Mount

To confront this fact

within which one could see

frame space from the

Fuji “captured from differ¬

means to acquire an

vignettes of places, often

square of the illusionistic

ent locations, times of day,

awareness of ourselves.

overpainted onto post¬

space of painting. By

and seasons of the year. . . .

This in truth becomes a

cards. The individual

utilizing shaped canvases,

A fourth view is an aerial

search, a questioning of

ovals of canvases became

Pindell freed her paintings

one.”14 Furthermore,

who we are and how we

PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS

17

will realize ourselves.” 16

than those of us who care

sexual preference, orienta¬

cosmos and to reconstruct

Mendieta had assembled

about these issues are will¬

tion, and “decency.” 21

them as a whole onto the

an exhibition of works by

ing to admit, and that

women of African,

redresses in one area do

which was published in the

a very personal meaning.

Native, Asian, and Latino

not necessarily carry over

newsletter Spirit of January,

Like many of us of Afri¬

American heritage, one of

to the other.

is a cogent and exhaustive

can- American descent, she

the first of its kind, signal¬

examination of the stunt¬

is literally reconstructing

ing the first stirrings of

Synthesis

ing of dialogue through

her self into an integral

new political alignments in

During the last decade

censorship in the media,

whole, painstakingly

the art world and the

Pindell’s art making has

particularly in the report¬

reclaiming those bits of

world at large. Even Femi¬

increasingly been accom¬

age on the GulfWar of

information that have

nists were not immune to

panied by her political

1991. 22 This merger of the

been denied, hidden, or

charges of racism; Men¬

activism. In 1979 she was

artistic with the political is

destroyed not only by the

dieta pointed out, “. .. as

one of the main protago¬

perhaps best illustrated by

legacy of slavery that

women in the United

nists in the protest against

the large figural paintings

sought to obliterate our

States politicized them¬

the use of the title Nigger

that form part of the Auto¬

memory—as Pindell’s was

selves and came together in

Drawings by a white artist,

biography Series which

again in the automobile

the Feminist Movement

showing at Artist’s Space.

Pindell has been working

accident—but also by the

with the purpose to end the

While the response of the

on for the last 4 to 5 years.

pathology of individual

Her most recent work,

canvas. For Pindell this has

domination and exploita¬

art world to the protest

In several of these large

families that keep secrets

tion of the white male

was to cry censorship, in

paintings Pindell has sten¬

and deny realities. During

culture, they failed to

the intervening decade

ciled the contour of her

the last few years Pindell

remember us.”17 Then

Pindell has been a prime

body, in her new studio

has grappled with her own

Mendieta lays down the

mover in the redefinition

and residence in upper

historical reality within

gauntlet: “American Femi¬

of the censorship issue to

Manhattan in the late

this pervasive denial.

nism as it stands is basi¬

focus on the defacto exclu¬

1980s. It seemed to me at

cally a white middle class

sion of artists, and ulti¬

the time that the oval-

own view of her artwork,

In reconstructing her

movement. As non-white

mately critics and cura¬

scapes, both in collage and

Pindell is achieving a

women our struggles are

tors, of color in defining

paint, had come up to

synthesis that makes her

two-fold. This exhibition

dialogues about and

engulf Pindell herself, an

whole as a human being,

points not necessarily to

around them in the art

alternative that was almost

so it seems to make perfect

the injustice or incapacity

world. Pindell has

unavoidable, given the

sense to see her emmeshed

of a society that has not

compiled and circulated

imperative that had been

in her work as in Autobiog¬

been willing to include us,

statistics on the percent¬

guiding her work over the

raphy: Water/Ancestors/Middle

last two decades.

Passage/Family Ghosts of

but more towards a

ages of exhibitions of the

personal will to continue

work of women and artists

being ‘other.’ ”18 It is

of color in major

see the varying aspects of

that Pindell would find

indicative of this will to

museums. This informa¬

Pindell’s work as separate

solace as part of the work

find her own way that

tion was later published in

media, separate episodes,

that has served to anchor

There is a tendency to

1988. It would make sense

Pindell, who once saw the

Third Text. 20 She has also

distinct from one another.

her throughout these

women’s movement as the

simply compiled lists of

But it must be viewed as a

years. The erasure of

most viable route for her

artists of color for the

continuum, a fact that is

boundaries is often

into the art world,19 ceased

convenience of an art

reinforced as much by the

thought to be a pathology

to be an active member of

world that still claims not

formal elements of her

to be avoided and recti¬

A.I.R. gallery in 1975

to know who they are.

work as by the conceptual

fied, but with Pindell it

after her second exhibition

In 1990 she wrote a piece

development. In these

seems to be the ultimate

there. She, too, found that

outlining the functions of

large autobiographical

way in which she can come

despite good intentions,

censorship-by-exclusion in

works, we still see Pindell’s

into her own. The process

race and gender issues in

the art world, at a time

impulse to accumulate all

begins with an expiation

this country tend to be

when the censorship issue

the various atomized parts

of a sort: in Autobiography:

more mutually exclusive

was focused solely on

of our existences from the

Air/CS560, also of 1988,

18

HOWARDENA PINDELL

four versions of her supine

adornment she talked

Postscript

grounds, sections of maps

silhouette are literally

about in 1984, and to

Pindell’s art continues to

of the area, and architectu¬

buffeted about by words

which she seems to be

evolve. For a commission

ral details are embedded in

and phrases and questions,

returning in her 1988

completed for the Aviation

an field of paint composed

written into the surface of

painting. As in the adorn¬

Department Percent for

of thousands of individual

the painting, which refer

ment, her painting now

Art Funds in Phoenix,

paintstrokes of white, pale

directly to her “direct

manifests a textual

Arizona, she conceived a

blue, lavender and yellow,

personal experience with

treatment that adds

glass mosaic of various

which approximate the

issues of abuse, some of

“. . . variety, excitement

scenes in and around Phoe¬

atomization of dots. In

which were brought about

and drama to the cultural

nix. These views and

Memory/Arizona (1991) the

by encounters with

codes that they convey

partial views have been

painted field has been elim¬

racism, sexism and issues

from the wearer to the

collaged together in a

inated as the individual

of class.”23 As we glimpse

environment. The body

composition where each

scenes, always set into the

her realistically painted

with its pattern of move¬

bit of information exists

paint off-axis, abut up

face peering out, her body

ment is enhanced and

within its own space,

against one another creat¬

barely distinguished from

given the dimension of a

regardless of what is next

ing unexpected interac¬

the painted daubs and

living canvas on which

to it. Pindell spent a great

tions of forms and space at

collages and painted bits of

each individual constructs

deal of time taking the

their juncture.

visual memory, she seems

his or her own image.”24

photographs herself. She

Recently when I asked

to be quite comfortable

In her most recent paint¬

had followed the same

her if she felt that her work

and at peace.

ings, Pindell seems to find

methodology for Queens/

would become more specif¬

some compatibility

Festival^ 1986-88), the

ically figural, she simply

between her body and its

between herself and her

commission she did for the

shrugged her shoulders and

environment is again

environment, a relation¬

Social Security Building in

departed to return to her

comparable to the African

ship that has for so long

Jamaica, Queens, New

studio, where the work

York, where views of the

would begin anew.

The relationship

eluded her.

various landmarks, resi¬ dents of many ethnic back-

NOTES 1. Howardena Pindell Odyssey. intro, by Terri Rouse. New York; The Studio Museum in Harlem, 1986, p. 5. 2. Beauty By Design: The Aesthetics of African Adornment, edited by MarieTherese Brincard (New York: The African-American Institute, 1984), pp. 36-39. 3. The specifics of the reconstructed interpretations of Pindell’s art in this essay were guided by observations made over a 20-year period, and particularly by a conversation between the author and the artist on January 5, 1992. 4. Howardena Pindell, Artist’s Statement for Howardena Pindell: Autobiography, 1989. 5. See Roy Sieber, African Textiles and Decorative Arts (New York: The Museum of Modem Art, 1972). 6. Afro-American Abstraction: An Exhibi¬ tion of Contemporary Painting and Sculpture of.'Nineteen Black American Artists, curated by April Kingsley at P.S. 1 (Institute

for Art and Urban Resources). Essay by April Kingsley. New York, 1981. 7. Beauty by Design, pp. 37, 38. 8. Linda Goode-Bryant and Marcy S. Philips. Contextures (New York: Just Above Midtown Gallery, Inc., 1978), p. 66. 9. Ibid, p. 67. 10. Ibid, p. 69. 11. Howardena Pindell interview in the catalogue, Since the Harlem Renais¬ sance. Preface byjosephjacobs. (Lewisburg: The Center Gallery, Bucknell University, 1985), p. 34. 12. This refers to artist Hans Hofmann’s description of surface tensions and movement in abstract painting as the “push and pull” of visu¬ ally advancing and receding colors, as well as textures. 13. Ellen Elsas, “Howardena Pindell, Traveler’s Memories:Japan Series,” from the brochure for the exhibition of the Japan Series at the Birmingham Museum of Art January

20-March 17, 1985), and the India Series at the Heath Gallery, Atlanta, Ga. (February 5-March 2, 1985). 14. Ibid 15. Ibid. 16. Dialectics of Isolation: An Exhibition of Third World Women Artists of the United States. Intro, by Ana Mendieta (New York: A.I.R. Gallery, 1980). 17 .Ibid 18. Ibid 19. In her interview in Since the Harlem Renaissance, Pindell says, “I was first told that my work wasn’t black because it wasn’t showing a certain kind of imagery, and then I was put down a bit for being a woman. So the first place I really made an effort to show my work was a black institution, and I was told to go away. That meant I had to show in a white context, and that was a problem because they were basically saying go away as well. The only other approach was the woman’s movement. This was

in the late 60s and early 70s. I was approached by A.I.R., which was just forming, and that was the way I got to first show my work.” p. 36. 20. “Art (World) and Racism, Testimony, Documentation and Statistics,” Third Texts, nos. 3/4 (Spring-Summer, 1988), p. 157. 21. “Art World Racism: A Docu¬ mentation,” New Art Examiner (March 1989), pp. 32-36. and “Breaking the Silence,” New Art Examiner (Parti.• October 1990, pp. 18-23; Partll: November 1990, pp. 23-29, 50-51). 22. “ ‘To Extinguish Once and For All The Possibility of Independent Thought’,” Spirit of January Monthly, serialized over several months begin¬ ning withJanuary-February 1992. 23. See note number 6. 24. Beauty by Design, p. 39.

PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS

19

Howardena Pindell: Some Reminiscences and a Chronology Reminiscences by Howardena Pindell. Chronology 1943-1986compiled by Loma Simpson. Chronology 1987-1992 compiled by Georgia Coopersmith. Historical notes compiled by Howardena Pindell. Some Reminiscences * When I was eight, I

gallery and art-trade

have been a classical

that much repetition as

publication network we

musician but hated to

each painting is sort of an

have today. I felt there was

practice and had terrible

odyssey or epic. One

stage fright.

unrelated tangent I am

decided to be an artist.

always someone to appre¬

I was sent to the Fleisher

ciate your work. My first

My work was primar¬

following is an interest in

Art Memorial in Philadel¬

exhibit was in our neigh¬

ily about process until in

science. I loved science as

phia for Saturday classes

borhood church which

1979,1 was a passenger in

a child (biology and

in drawing. I felt very

was a black church (the

a freak car accident. After

balancing chemistry

intimidated as I was the

Presbyterian Church was

1979 my work becomes

equations) and I am

youngest person. I do not

segregated at the time).

autobiographical as part

particularly interested in

remember if I was the only

I spent a lot of time in the

of my desperate struggle to

new physics and quantum

person of color.

Philadelphia Museum in

heal myself. I had a brain

mechanics and how it ties

I continued to take Satur¬

Louise and Walter Arens-

injury because of a concus¬

in with spirituality.

day classes in various

berg Collection.

programs in the Philadel¬

sion and not everything

I do not feel a part of

I was very fond of

was working right. . . plus

phia area (Tyler School,

Duchamp’s work. I was

I had severe headaches as a

tion; I guess because I was

Philadelphia College of

also very fond of landscape

result and had a very short

brought up in a different

Art, etc.) until I graduated

painting. There was

fuse as a result of being

time frame. I was born

from high school when I

always a split for me

very uncomfortable. I had

during WWII in 1943.

was sixteen.

between traditional paint¬

trouble walking for a long

I remember the atomic

the present new genera¬

I was determined to be

ing and the avant-garde.

time. Because of the resid¬

bomb and the dark

an artist and was inspired

I was fond of them both.

ual effects of the injury, if

window shades for black¬

by the presence of work by

I was primarily trained in

I drink alcohol my face still

outs and the rationing of

Henry Ossawa Tanner

traditional oil painting

becomes numb, as if I was

food. I remember segrega¬

in the home of one of my

but gave it up (the use of

given novocaine at the

tion and the aggressive

friends who was one of his

oil) after becoming allergic

dentist’s.

relatives. There were

from using too much lead

many Black artists in Phil¬

white. (They never taught

themes are really endless

adelphia plus excellent

about the hazards of lead

and there are so many

movement. I was basically

collections (mostly Euro¬

white until after I gradu¬

things that I want to

brought up on radio not

pean art). There was not

ated. Art hazards are a

explore: I find that I am

TV. I thought TV was

much of a gallery system.

relatively recent concern.)

not at a loss for ideas.

frivolous and can only

More at a loss for time.

really remember Ed Sulli¬

I did not feel it was odd for

I sustain myself

Since autobiographical

oppression as opposed to its more subtle form now. I remember the civil rights

me to be an artist and was

through sheer tenacity as

I do a lot of reading and

van, This is Tour Life, Ernie

frankly quite amazed at

the art world does not

research and now do

Kovaks, You Asked for It and

how closed the art world

want artists of color to be

almost as much writing

the Mouseketeers, Howdy

was once I left Philadel¬

full participants. I work

as I do painting.

phia. Not that Philadel¬

because it is my life’s

phia was open, on the

work. I have no other

itself more with subtle vari¬

ing to do with my life.

contrary, but people were

choice. I do not get bored

ations when I worked with

The difference also is that

working and there was not

with it or impatient unless

process in the late 60s and

there was not the massive

the massive commercial

I am overtired. I could

1970s. Now there is not

advertising or the horren-

20

HOWARDENA PINDELL

My work repeated

Doody, or Flash Gordon. They certainly had noth¬

dous violence that has been

the reason I have also been

A Howardena Pindell Chronology (Contemporary historical events in italics)

so normalized. The

writing as well as paint¬

violence of racism was

ing, teaching, and giving

there but there was a

some public lectures. I do

1943 Born April 14, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

silence around it because

not feel very much part of

1945 Hiroshima andNagasaki.

no one in power wanted to

the art world because of

1948-60 Takes art classes at Philadelphia Art College

acknowledge it.

the restrictive environ¬

and Fleisher Art Memorial, and Tyler School of Art.

Travel has made the

ment that is brought to it

big difference for me in

by people who are patho¬

1950-53 Korean War. 1955 56 Bus boycott, Montgomery; segregation banned by ICC

that I did not get isolated

logically indifferent. I do

on interstate travel; Emmett Till murdered.

in the American pathol¬

not see art and life as

1956 58 Bus boycott, Tallahassee.

ogy. I lived in Sweden, and

separate.

1960

-

Pickets Woolworth’s, Philadelphia. Boycotts and sit-

ins; Civil Rights Act; independence for Chad, Congo Brazzaville,

Japan, and India, and spent a fair amount of

-

Howardena Pindell, 1991

Dahomey, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Mali, Nigeria, Somali, Upper Volta, Zaire.

time in varying degrees in parts of Europe (England,

1961 Attends Boston University, studies painting. Free¬

France, Denmark,

dom Rides;first prime minister of Democratic Republic of Congo

Norway, Italy), Brazil,

(Zaire) assassinated; invasion of Cuba (Bay of Pigs). 1963 Spends summer working and travelling in

Mexico, Egypt, Kenya,

* These reminiscences are

Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory

adapted from an article

Mexico. Attends Spanish language classes in Saltillo.

originally published in

March on Washington; Medgar Evers killed; President John F.

Coast, Senegal, the Carib¬ bean, parts of the United States and Canada, and

M/EfA/N/I/N/G, Issue #10 (Winter 1991)

Kennedy assassinated. 1964

Visits Sweden, Denmark, France.

USSR. I have always been

1965 Graduates from Boston University as a figurative

concerned about the world

painter. Voting Rights Act; Malcolm Xassassinated; Watts; Viet¬

at large and spent some of

nam War 1965-73.

my summers during my

1965 Attends Yale University. Learns more about color

years as a teenager in an

and form. Continues figurative work.

international kibbutz like

1967 Receives MFA from Yale University. Hired by

environment in the hills of

Museum of Modern Art, New York, as an Exhibition

Pennsylvania. The ideal

Assistant. Meets Lucy Lippard and is exposed to New

for me was international

York feminist art circle.

cooperation as each

1968 Meets John Dowell and Benny Andrews and is

culture has so much rich¬

inspired by their commitment and drive. Rev. Martin

ness to offer. I also worked

Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy assassinated.

in a factory for one

1969 Is promoted to Curatorial Assistant, Department

summer and got a taste of

of Drawings and Prints, Museum of Modern Art, New

what could happen if one

York. Begins series of stain drawings characterized by

gave up one’s education.

short, staccato brush strokes. My Lai massacre.

I am from a very racially

1970 Creates dark, eight-by-eight-foot stain paintings

mixed family (some are

with multi-colored dot configurations. Egypt’s president

liberal and some very

Gamal Abdul Nasser assassinated; National Guard kills student

conservative) and have

protesters at Kent State.

tried to understand or

1971 Founds A.I.R. Gallery, New York City with

appreciate this. I have

Susan Williams, Barbara Zucker, Dottie Attie, Maude

been puzzled by the need

Boltz, Nancy Grigoriadis, and Nancy Spero. Investi¬

for one culture to be

gates soft sculpture and creates monochromatic wall/

obsessed with domination

floor pieces. New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller rejects Attica

of another. The goal of my work is to share knowledge. This is

Correctional Facility inmates’ demandsfor prison refom and rfuses to negotiate; 28prisoners and 9 hostages die as a result of an assault by 1000 enforcementpersonnel. Two-week strike of Museum of

PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS

21

Modem Art employees (PASTA/MoMA).

1982 Returns to the USA. Works now incorporate

1972 Marks and numbers hole-punched dots of paper

picturesque postcards from travels and friends. Ameri¬

and assembles them on sewn graph paper and board,

can, European, and Japanese images are sliced into strips

continuing to favor monochromatic hues.

and spread out in a fan-like construction on museum

1973 Participates in Museum of Modern Art Library

board with the image meticulously painted in the spaces

Overseas Program and tours Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria,

between. Their three-dimensional wave and conical

Ivory Coast, and Senegal with Lowery Sims of the

shapes resemble helmets and mountains. A collaborative

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Investigates

work with Feon Golub is published in Black Current maga¬

print workshops, museums, artists studios, libraries,

zine. Israel invades Lebanon.

galleries, and art schools. Watergate; seven-week strike of

1983 Receives a National Endowment for the Arts

MoMA/PASTA employees.

Painting Fellowship. Travels to India. Works become

1974 Visits Egypt. Develops supportive relationship

anthropomorphic and more free in composition. Stops

with Mel Edwards, Benny Andrews, and Sam Gilliam

working with sewn canvas. Writes essay, “An American

upon return to USA. Photographs TV with acetate ink

Black Woman in ajapanese Garden,” for Heresies.

drawings over screen. Introduces color on hand punched

US invades Grenada.

dots. Karen Silkwoodmurdered.

1984 Becomes a full professor at State University of

1975 Receives French Government Artist Grant to live

New York at Stony Brook. Returns to India, where she

and work in Cite des Arts, Paris. Travels to India. Meets

takes photographs and collects postcards.

Richard Hunt, a Chicago sculptor. Creates small, over¬

1985 Begins to work again with sewn canvases. Post¬

lapping postcard collages which reveal underlying

card works include several table-top arrangements which

images through holes cut in upper layers.

resemble landscapes.

1976 In charge of renovation of the Department

1986 Postcard works, now mounted on canvas, become

of Prints and Illustrated Books, Museum of Modern Art,

more painterly and less restricted to photographic

New York. Collaborates withjudith Solodkin on litho¬

imagery. Iran-Contra hearings; Mozambique’s president Machel

graphs and etchings at Solo Press, New York.

killed in plane crash; US bombs Libya.

1977 Is named Associate Curator, Department of Prints and Illustrated Books, Museum of Modern Art,

1987 Receives Guggenheim Fellowship in Painting. 1988 Begins cutting up own photographs. Travels to

New York. Visits Brazil.

USSR as delegate to Afro-American Cultural Sympo¬

1978 Begins to use cut and sewn canvas. 1979 Joins with other artists and writers to protest

sium, Moscow. Curates and organizes travelling exhibit

against the “Nigger Drawings” exhibition shown at

Color)”, Intar Gallery, New York. Intfada begins.

“Autobiography: In Her Own Image (Women Artists of

Artists’ Space in New York. Travels tojapan for the

1989 During the summer travels to England and France

Museum of Modern Art. Decides to leave Museum of

to do visual research on Roman mosaics at the British

Modern Art. Is appointed Associate Professor by State

Museum and at the Fouvre, and to see the exhibit Magi¬

University, New York at Stony Brook, in Long Island.

cians of the Earth, at the Centre du Georges Pompidou.

Is involved as a passenger in an auto accident that results

US invades Panama; Congressman George Thomas ‘Mickey”

in partial memory loss. Uses postcards and their inscrip¬

Leland killed in a plane crash in Gampale, Ethiopia.

tions to recall friends and past experiences. Work is

1990 Receives the College Art Association Artist Award

charged with explosive colors. Creates “Sorry, It Was

for a Distinguished Body of Work. Nelson Mandela released.

An Accident,” continuing to use hand-punched and

1991 Artist’s mother dies after prolonged illness. Installa¬

painted paper with glitter on canvas.

tion of mosaic wall in Sky Harbor International Air¬

1980 Creates “Free, White and Twenty-One” video

port, Phoenix, Arizona, commissioned by Phoenix Arts

tape in response to the hypocritical politics of the feminist

Commission. US and allies bomb and invade Iraq. Democrati¬

movement toward Black women. Continues to create

cally elected President Aristide of Haiti ousted by coup.

sewn canvas pieces.

1992 Po lice acquitted in brutal beating of Rodney King. Uprisings

1981 Receives U. S./Japan Friendship Commission

in response tv verdict in Los Angeles and other US cities.

Creative Artists Fellowship. While injapan paints academic watercolor still lifes and takes over 3000 photo¬ graphs. Receives tenure at State University of New York at Stony Brook, in Fong Island.

22

HOWARDENA PINDELL

Resources include Juan Williams, Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years 1954-65 (New York: Penguin Books, 1987) and Bernard Gunn, The Timetables ojHistory (New York: Simon & Shuster, 1991).

HOWARDENA PINDELL

Paintings and Drawings

Howardena Pindell: A Checklist of Works in the Exhibition

1. Kensington Series #2, 1974

10. Video Drawing: Hockey Series, 1973-75

Wax, black crayon on museum board, 15 x 11"

Cobrphotograph, 8 x 10"

Lent by the artist

Lent by the artist

2. Parabia #2, 1974

11. Video Drawings: Baseball Series # 1 and #2, 1973-75

Wax, black crayon on museum board, 91 fax 63/4"

Colorphotogaphs, 5x7" each

Lent by the artist

Lent by the artist

3. Parabia Text #5, 1974

12. Free, White & 21, 1980

Pen, ink, punched papers, spray adhesive, thread, powder on board,

Video tape, 12 minutes

91/2x61/2"

Courtesy of the Kitchen, New York City

Lent by the artist. 13. Autobiography: Memory: Past, 1980-81 4. Untitled #5, 1974

Acrylic, tempera, 78 x 122"

Pen, ink, punched papers, spray adhesive, thread, powder on board,

Lent by the artist

8x10" Lent by the artist.

14. Autobiography: Japan (Kokuzo Bosatsu), 1982 Postcards, acrylic,gouache, tempera, 111/2 x 15"

5. Untitled #43, 1974

Courtesy of the Heath Gallery, Atlanta

Watercolor,gouache, crayon, punched papers, spray adhesive, thread

7% x 91/2" Collection Mr. and Mrs. Howard Pindell, Philadelphia on board,

6. Untided #73, 1975

15. Autobiography: Hiroshima Disguised (in 10 parts), 1982 Acrylic, paper, dye, gouache on sewn canvas, 60 x 132" Lent by the artist

Watercolor, gouache, crayon, ink, punched papers, spray adhesive, thread on board, 71/2x91/2"

16. Autobiography: Japan (Hase Kannon), 1982

Collection Mr. and Mrs. Howard Pindell, Philadelphia

Acrylic, tempera, gouache, postcards on museum board,

7. Untitled #5, 1975

Courtesy of June Kelly Gallery, New York

18x19x5"

Pen, ink, punched papers on graph paper, 34 x 46"

Lent by the artist

17. Autobiography: Japan (Mountain Reflection), 198283

8. Video Drawing: Football Series, 1973-75

Acrylic,paper, dye,gouache, 108 x 108"

Color photograph, 8 x 10"

Lent by the artist

Lent by the artist 18. Autobiography: Japan (Shisen-do, Kyoto), 1982 9. Video Drawing: Swimming Series, 1973-75

Acrylic, tempera, dye, paper, polymer photo transfer on sewn canvas,

Color photograph, 8 x 10"

69x69"

Lent by the artist

Lent by the artist 19. Autobiography: Japan (Bridge I, Miajima), 1982 Tempera, postcards, gouache, 20 x 22"

Collection Bellevue Hospital, New York

24

HOWARDENA PINDELL

20. Autobiography: East/ West: Waterfall, 1983

30. Autobiography: Undersea Tolland: Earth, 1987

Acrylic, postcards, tempera, gouache, watercohr on museum board,

Acrylic, gouache, tempera, oil stick, polymer photo transfer on sewn

27x32x6"

canvas, 70 x 105"

Lent by the artist

Courtesy of the N’Namdi Gallery, Detroit

21. Autobiography: India (Temple), 1984

31. Autobiography: Egypt (Colossi of Memnon, 1964

Acrylic, gouache, tempera, postcards, watercohr on museum board,

and Paris, 1971), 1988

32x20x3"

Cibachrome, acrylic, tempera on museum board, 9x35x2"

Lent by George N’Namdi, Detroit.

Courtesy of the N’Namdi Gallery, Detroit

22. Autobiography: India (Lotus Pond), 1984

32. Autobiography: Bedford Stuyvesant (Brooklyn,

Acrylic, gouache, tempera, postcards, watercohr on museum board,

N.Y., 1968), 1988

22i/2x28i/2"

Cibachrome, acrylic, tempera on museum board, 9 x 20"

Lent by the artist

Lent by William and Gloria Johnson, The Woodlands, Texas

23.1.D. Apartheid, 1985 (Installation Piece) Vinyl type, chair, photostat, tape,

8x8x8'

Lent by the artist

33. Autobiography: Japan (Kanazawa, 1981), 1988 Cibachrome, acrylic, tempera on museum board, 36/2x81/2x2"

24. Autobiography: Africa (Red Frog II), 1986

Courtesy of the N’Namdi Gallery, Detroit

Acrylic, polymer photo transfer, oilstickon canvas, 78 x 70" Lent by the artist

34. Autobiography: Water/Ancestors/Middle Passage/

25. Autobiography: African Buddha, 1986

Acrylic, tempera, cattle markers, oil stick, paper, polymer photo trans¬

Acrylic, paper, polymer photo transfer on sewn canvas, 51 x 91"

fer, vinyl type on sewn canvas, 118 x 71"

Family Ghosts, 1988

Lent by William and Gloria Johnson, The Woodlands,

Lent by the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connec¬

Texas

ticut; Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection

26. Separate But Equal: Apartheid, 1987

(Photoreproduction.)

Acrylic, vinyl type, faux rhinestones, nails, wood, caulking, zircon, 24x211/2"

35. Autobiography: Air/CS560, 1988

Lent by the artist

Acrylic, tempera, oil stick, bhod (the artist’s), paper, polymer photo

27. Autobiography: Fire: Suttee, 1986-87

Lent by the artist

transfer, vinyl type on canvas, 87 x 84" Acrylic, paper, polymer photo transfer on canvas, 90 x 56" Courtesy of Peter Huber, Norfolk

36. Video Drawing: War Series: Napalm: Ethiopia,

(Photoreproduction.)

1988

28. Rambo Real Estate, 1987

Lent by the artist

Cohrphotograph, image 6/4x91/2" Acrylic, newspaper, vinyl type, tempera on paper, 45 x 42" Lent by the artist

37. Video Drawing: War Series: Torture: El Salvador,

29. Autobiography: Earth/Eyes/Injuries, 1987

Cohr photograph, image

Acrylic, paper, polymer photo transfer, oil stick on sewn canvas,

Lent by the artist

1988 6/4

x 91/2"

88x

78" Lent by William and Gloria Johnson, The Woodlands,

38. Video Drawing: War Series: Birth Defects: Agent

Texas

Orange: Vietnam # 1, 1988 Cohr photograph, image 6/4x91/2" Lent by the artist

PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS

25

39. Video Drawing: War Series: Birth Defects: Agent

49. Art Crow/ Jim Crow, 1988

Orange: Vietnam #2, 1988

Photo etching letterpress (Trial-proof bookwork, edition of 10),

Color photograph, image 6% x 9$ ” Lent by the artist

7f4x7f4" Lent by the artist

40. Video Drawing: War Series: Birth Defects: Agent

50. Autobiography: The Search: Chrysalis/ Meditation:

Orange: Vietnam #3, 1988

Positive/ Negative, 1988-89

Colorphotograph, image

Acrylic, tempera, oil stick, cattle markers, paper, polymer photo

6/4

x 91/>"

Lent by the artist

transfer on canvas, 72 x 112"

41. Video Drawing: War Series: Starvation: Sudan # 1

Texas

Lent by William and Gloria Johnson, The Woodlands, (Makluk: 14 years old), 1988 Color photograph, image 61/4 x 9 t/f"

51. Autobiography: Switzerland (Road to Lucerne,

Lent by the artist

1971), 1989

42. Video Drawing: War Series: South Africa # 1, 1988

Lent by the artist

Cibachrome, acrylic, tempera on museum board, 81/2x34" Color photograph, image 61/4 x 9 52. Autobiography: Egypt (Thebes, 1974), 1989

Lent by the artist

Photograph, acrylic, tempera on museum board, 18 x 81/2" 43. Video Drawing: War Series: South Africa #2, 1988

Lent by Dr. Dexter Fields and Dr. Margaret Betts,

Color photograph, image

Detroit

61/4x91/2"

Lent by the artist 53. Autobiography: Egypt (Cairo and Thebes, 1974), 44. Video Drawing: War Series: “A Thousand Points of

1989

Light”: White Phosphorus: El Salvador, 1988

Photograph, acrylic, tempera on museum board,

Color photograph, image

Courtesy of the N’Namdi Gallery, Detroit

61/4

x

91/2"

8

x 33 x 2"

Lent by the artist 54. Autobiography: Egypt (Cairo Residential, 1974), 45. Video Drawing: War Series: “L” Word #1, 1988

1989

Color photograph, image

Photograph on museum board, acrylic, tempera, 81/2x18x2"

6/4

x 9 ft"

Lent by the artist

Courtesy of the N’Namdi Gallery, Detroit

46. Video Drawing: War Series: The “L” Word #2,

55. Autobiography: Japan (Kyoto: Yasaka Shrine

1988

Entrance and Dry Garden, Ginkakuji, 1981), 1989

Color photograph, image

6/4

x 9 1/2"

Cibachrome, acrylic, tempera on museum board, 36 x 9"

Lent by the artist

Lent by Dr. Hills Howard, Detroit

47. Video Drawing: War Series: Cambodia, 1988

56. Autobiography: Japan (Hirosaki: Nebuta Festival

Color photograph, image 61/4 x 9 t/a"

and Kyoto: Gion Festival, 1981), 1989

Lent by the artist

Cibachrome, acrylic, tempera on museum board, 91/2 x 33 x 2" Courtesy of the N’Namdi Gallery, Detroit

48. Video Drawing: War Series: New World Order: Retreat, 1991 Color photograph, image

57. Phoenix: Road to Casa Grande (1989), 1990 6^4

x9

Lent by the artist

26

HOWARDENA FIND ELL

Cibachrome, gouache on museum board, 81/2 x 37" Courtesy of the Heath Gallery, Atlanta

58. Memory: Arizona, 1991

61. Who Do You Think You Are? One of Us!, 1991-92

Venetian glass mosaic wall mural, 10 x 14'

Acrylic, tempera, polymer photo transfer, oil stick, vinyl type, paper on

Collection of the city of Phoenix, Arizona (Sky Harbor

sewn canvas, 71

International Airport). Commissioned through the

Lent by the artist

" diameter

Phoenix Arts Commission. Fabricator: Crovatto Mosa¬ ics, Spilimbergo (Friuli-Venezia).

62. Separate but Equal: Genocide: AIDS, 1990-92

(Photoreproduction.)

Acrylic, oil stick, vinyl type, 48 x 72" each Lent by the artist

59. Autobiography: Scapegoat, 1990 Acrylic, tempera, oil stick, polymer photo transfer on canvas,

63. Columbus, 1991-92

72 x 141"

Acrylic, tempera, polymer photo transfer, oil stick, vinyl type on sewn

Lent by the artist

canvas, 88 x 97" Lent by the artist

60. “Till Birnam Wood Remove to Dunsinane” (.Macbeth: Act 5, Scene 3), 1991 Acrylic, tempera, polymer photo transfer, oil stick, vinyl type on sewn canvas, 89" diameter Lent by the artist

PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS

27

Work from the early 1970s The recent drawings in color have developed from the monochromatic work which I executed in 197 3. The previous work involved points of paper, dots which I numbered in black ink and clustered at random or ordered by means of tweezers and spray adhesive. The color drawings have developed in somewhat the same way, although they repre¬ sent a drawing made up of many drawings in acrylic, gouache, watercolor, and oil pastel, which have been folded and destroyed by means of a hole punch (Vs" or '/4"). The color points are then gathered together with the color dots which remain from other destroyed drawings and are used to create a new work. Howardma Pindell, 1976

Parabia #2, 1974 Wax, black crayon on museum board, 9 J/2X

63/4n

Lent by the artist

28

HOWARDENA PINDELL

4

Untitled #5,1974 Pen, ink, punched papers, spray adhesive, thread, powder on board, 8 x 10" Lent by the artist.

5

Untitled #43,1974 Watercolor, gouache, crayon, punched papers, spray adhesive, thread on board, 77/s x 9^2" Collection Mr. and Mrs. Howard Pindell, Philadelphia

PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS

29

Untitled #5,1975 Pen, ink, punched papers on graph paper, 34 x 46" Lent by the artist Full image below; detail on page 31.

30

HOWARDENA PINDELL

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