FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, November 12, 2024

New York, New York – Art21 is proud to announce the release of a new film “Howardena Pindell: Inner Circle,” premiering Wednesday, November 20 at 12:00 p.m. ET on Art21.org and YouTube. In this installment of Art21’s Extended Play digital series, Pindell reflects on formative childhood memories, her confrontations with systemic prejudice, and the enduring joy she finds in being an artist.

Watch the trailer.

For nearly six decades, Howardena Pindell has explored and expanded the language of abstraction while struggling against a racist and misogynistic culture. Fascinated by circles and numbers, the artist has developed a formal language that speaks to both universal and personal experiences through her paintings and paper works.

“When you work with abstraction you’re working with your own intuitive feelings about space, color, line, shape,” says Pindell. “Its purpose is almost a way of opening up our thought process because you’re reading someone else’s language and you’re interpreting it through your own language.”

“Working with Howardena to tell her story has been a true honor,” says the film’s director, César Martínez Barba. “Her resilience and the way her artwork reflects her life’s challenges inspired our approach, inviting viewers to experience the memories that resonate within her work and to celebrate the infinite possibilities of her celestial images.”

Tune in to the digital premiere of “Howardena Pindell: Inner Circle” on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. ET at Art21.org and on Art21’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/art21org. To learn more, email Art21 Associate Director of Communications, Hannah DeGarmo, at [email protected].

About Extended Play

 

Art21’s Extended Play digital series provides unmediated, behind-the-scenes access to today’s leading artists. Through process-revealing footage and intimate interviews, these curatorially-driven films chronicle a diverse scale of international projects, ranging from major commissions to exploratory sketches. Produced in close collaboration with artists, Extended Play uncovers provocative ideas, timely cultural influences, and biographical anecdotes that inspire the artists featured throughout the series.

Extended Play is presented by the Marina Kellen French Foundation, with support from John and Deborah Beckmann and Jacob Kotzubei. Additional support is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the Every Page Foundation, the Henry Nias Foundation, and individual contributors.

About Art21

Art21 is the world’s leading source to learn directly from the artists of our time. A nonprofit organization, the mission of Art21 is to educate and expand access to contemporary art, producing documentary films, resources, and public programs. Learn more at Art21.org.

Press Contact

Hannah DeGarmo
Associate Director of Communications, Art21
[email protected]