Object Details
- Artist
- Howardena Pindell, born 1943
- Sitter
- Howardena Pindell, born 1943
- Exhibition Label
- Born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Howardena Pindell made Free, White and 21 in 1980, during a watershed period in her life. The year prior, she left the Museum of Modern Art, where she was the first Black woman curator; she protested the use of the N-word in an exhibition title for a white artist at Artists Space; and she was in a car accident that caused short-term amnesia. The first of only three videos in Pindell’s oeuvre, Free, White and 21 marks a turn toward autobiography in her practice. Pindell describes moments when she and her mother experienced racism, transforming the camera into witness, document, and diary.
- Made “after yet another run-in with racism in the art world and the white feminists,” the video also shows Pindell in whiteface, playing a white woman who repeatedly gaslights the artist. This landmark video was first shown at A.I.R. Gallery, a feminist, artist-run space in New York City that was cofounded by Pindell.
- Nacida en Filadelfia, Pensilvania
- Howardena Pindell creó Libre, blanca y con 21 años en 1980, en una etapa crucial de su vida. El año anterior renunció al Museo de Arte Moderno, donde fue la primera curadora negra; protestó contra el uso de un término racista en el título de una exposición de un artista blanco en Artists Space; y tuvo un accidente de auto que le causó amnesia temporal. Esta obra es el primero de tres videos que ha realizado Pindell y marca un giro hacia la autobiografía. Pindell describe momentos en que su madre y ella vivieron el racismo en carne propia, convirtiendo la cámara en testigo, documento y diario.
- Realizado “tras otro encontronazo con el racismo en el arte y con las feministas blancas”, el video también muestra a Pindell pintada de blanco, imitando a una mujer blanca que trata de confundirla. Esta significativa obra se estrenó en A.I.R. Gallery, un espacio neoyorquino feminista, administrado por artistas y cofundado por Pindell.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Garth Greenan
- 1980
- Object number
- NPG.2020.14
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- © Howardena Pindell, Courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York
- Type
- Time-Based Media
- Medium
- Single-channel video (color, sound); transferred to digital
- Dimensions
- Duration: 12:15 min.
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- The Struggle for Justice Refresh
- On View
- NPG, West Gallery 220
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Costume\Dress Accessory\Eyeglasses\Sunglasses
- Self-portrait
- Personal Attribute\Hairstyle\Afro
- Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair\Ladderback chair
- Howardena Pindell: Arts and Culture\Visual Arts\Artist
- Howardena Pindell: Female
- Howardena Pindell: Arts and Culture\Visual Arts\Artist\Painter
- Howardena Pindell: Arts and Culture\Visual Arts\Art instructor
- Howardena Pindell: Arts and Culture\Visual Arts\Curator
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.2020.14
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4c5d27694-3189-4430-89ea-d058820f55e6
