Speaking directly to the camera, artist Howardena Pindell recounts her experiences of racism and sexism as a Black woman in the United States. At times, she shifts to play the role of a white woman, gaslighting Pindell and clamining she is “paranoid.” This groundbreaking video critiques both institutionalized racism, and the mostly white feminist movement of the time. In 1972, Pindell cofounded A.I.R. Gallery, one of the first artist-run spaces for women in the U.S., and Free, White and 21 was first shown in 1980’s Dialectics of Isolation: An Exhibition of Third World Women Artists of the United States, curated by Ana Mendieta. This intensely personal and political film, whose title comes from a rebellious catchphrase often heard in Hollywood movies of the 1930s and 1940s, was a stark departure from the abstract works on paper for which Pindell was primarily known.
See Free, White and 21 in full as part of our Art on the Stoop: Sunset Screenings series, showing each Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday through November 8, now starting at 5pm.
Howardena Pindell (born Philadelphia, 1943). Free, White and 21, 1980 [Stills]. Single-channel video (color, sound): 12 min., 15 sec. Courtesy of Garth Greenan Gallery. Brooklyn Museum; Gift of Garth Greenan, 2020
