Activist ARt
Activist Art is art as a form of protest using a diverse range of practices and mediums. The Activist Art we’ll explore in this post address institutional entities like museums and its workers. Since museums are an authoritative institutions in society, it’s important that they’re held accountable for their lack of inclusivity and representation of the communities they serve. Adrienne Piper and Howardina Pindell are two Black women artists known for their Activist Art and their plight as light skinned women in the art world and society. Both artists approach their art in similar ways by refusing to stay quiet about racial inequality or racial discrimination they experienced first hand. In Free, White, and 21, Pindell appears as a caricature of a white privileged woman, who is confronted of her racial bias but refuses to acknowledge it and dismisses it completely. Similarly, in Piper’s Calling Card Exhibition, she passes around a card to patrons who have made racial comments in her presence letting them know how hurtful their words were because she is indeed a Black woman.
Both women protested exhibitions that were racially offensive or biased. Pindell protested Donald Newman’s exhibition at the Soho Gallery Artists Space, which was titled “The N — — — Drawings”, for its obvious offensive and tone deaf title and concept. Piper withdrew her work from an exhibition at Grey Gallery titled “ Radical Presence: Black Performers in Contemporary Art” because it furthered the idea that non white artists are marginalized indeed and her entire movement has been to shine light on that specific issue.
Howardina Pindell spent 12 years at a major cultural institutions, like the Moma, which influenced her art a lot since she was exposed to many different art and artist. She was criticized for not making explicitly Black political art in her collage pieces and for whitewashing her work to make it palpable to white audiences.
Adrienne Piper on the other hand vowed to control her first solo exhibition. A mail in project which allowed her to successfully succeeded in distributing her work on her own terms to an audience of more than 150 artists, curators, and dealers of her choosing. She also hosted many visual art performance sessions in the streets of NYC, whether it was painting her clothes white and going to departments store to shop or teaching very day people about Funk music and black culture and music, she was anti- institutions and refused to be validated by the “art world” which has a history of institutional racism.
Both artists are evidence that Activist Art can be expressed in many ways as long as it accomplishes its goal of bringing awareness and action. I think lots of Activist Art is currently being created post Covid and due to racial social injustices that came into peak light in 2020. Activist Art is needed as it creates dialogue that is necessary to address societal issues.
