Howardena Pindell

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Howardena Pindell (born April 4, 1943) is an American painter and mixed media artist. Her artwork is political, personal and a metaphorical processes of destruction/reconstruction while exploring issues like racism, trauma and memory. Pindell is best known for her abstract paintings made of hole punched scrap pieces of paper, collages, writings and video works. She received her BFA at Brown University and MA at Yale. She was curator at the Museum of Modern Art and co-founded A.I.R. Gallery in the 1970s which was the was the first artist-directed gallery for women artists in the United States. She has been teaching at Stony Brook University in New York since stepping down from MoMA in 1979. Pindell continues to be an active voice and critic of systemic racism in the art world and is widely exhibited, receiving numerous awards, honorary doctorates and continues to create new work today with a career that expands over that last 5 decades.

 

Workshop

Let’s create collage paintings inspired by Howardena Pindell’s process!

  1. Start with a large piece of paper and cut any shape to work on as your base

  2. Use your scrap paper (any colors) and your hole punch or scissors to create lots of

    circles and paper shapes to layer with

  3. With your glue and paint collage your circles and/or shapes together on to your base

  4. Get creative and enjoy the process of adding and subtracting, building, layering and

    making an abstract artwork inspired by Howardena Pindell!

Materials

  • Large Paper

  • Scrap paper

  • Hole punch or scissors

  • Glue

  • Paint

Follow Up

What shape did you choose as the base of your artwork?
Why? Did you enjoy making shapes and punching holes?
How did you begin to glue and collage the shapes to your artwork?
Was there a certain place you began (middle, center, corner)?
Did you end up removing and adding things? Why? How?
What did you think of the overall process?
Was the process of making your artwork as exciting as your finished an artwork?

Howardena Pindell Untitled #98, 1978 Mixed media on board 10 x 9 inches

Howardena Pindell Untitled #98, 1978 Mixed media on board 10 x 9 inches

 

“Now the drawings I do are very abstract and playful: I destroy them and re-assemble them in a three- dimensional way. I use thread also. It’s all about playing.”

– Howardena Pindell

 
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Joan Mitchell