Howardena Pindell

As an African American woman, Howardena Pindell has fought discrimination in the art world. She was one of the founders of the Artists in Residence Gallery, one of the first women’s cooperatives in New York City. Pindell focused on abstraction and photography as a graduate student at Yale University. She has traveled extensively, spending time in Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe, and enjoys studying the myths and languages of many cultures. In 1979, Pindell was severely injured in a traumatic car accident and suffered partial memory loss. During her recovery, old travel postcards helped to jog her memory of past events, and these images became an important element in her work. Since 1986, Pindell’s work has been autobiographical, drawing on her experiences as an African American woman, artist, teacher, and world traveler.