Untitled, #20 1974

Howardena Pindell created this untitled work on paper using hole-punched paper and thread. It might seem abstract at first glance, but Pindell’s work is deeply engaged with social and political issues, particularly race, feminism, and violence. Pindell’s artistic practice developed during a time of intense social upheaval in the United States. The Civil Rights Movement had exposed deep-seated racial inequalities. As an African-American woman, Pindell personally experienced discrimination and marginalization within the art world. Her choice of materials is also significant. The accumulation of tiny, often overlooked, circular pieces speaks to issues of identity, memory, and the fragmentation of experience. It also refers to the way that Black bodies are treated as merely a number in the history of slavery. By transforming discarded scraps into intricate compositions, Pindell challenges conventional notions of beauty, and also the social structures that perpetuate inequality. To truly understand Pindell’s art, we need to look at the broader context in which it was created, drawing on historical, political, and cultural resources.