Susan Smith-Pinelo is an African-American artist noted for her work in

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

and

performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

. She lives and works in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

Education

Smith-Pinelo received a B.F.A. from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

in 1991. She received a M.F.A. from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 2000.

Work

Susan Smith-Pinelo's work challenges conceptions of black identity and gender in

rap music Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

, and is particularly concerned with questioning the misogyny of the genre. For example, her 2001 Studio Museum in Harlem installation ''Sometimes'' has a close-up video of a black woman's breasts with a necklace saying "ghetto" around her neck dancing to music which sounds through the museum. ''Sometimes'' plays with form in order to "confront perceptions of black identity and femininity."

Awards and fellowships

Among the honors which Susan Smith-Pinelo has earned are: Joan Sovern Sculpture Award (1999)

Selected exhibitions

Susan Smith-Pinelo’s work has been featured in exhibitions at numerous galleries and institutions including: * Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France ''Playback'' (2007) *

Zachęta National Gallery of Art The Zachęta National Gallery of Art (Polish: ''Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki'') is a contemporary art museum in the center of Warsaw, Poland. The Gallery's chief purpose is to present and support Polish contemporary art and artists. With numero ...

, Warsaw, Poland ''black alphabet'' (2006) *

Bronx Museum of the Arts The Bronx Museum of the Arts (BxMA), also called the Bronx Museum of Art or simply the Bronx Museum, is an American cultural institution located in Concourse, Bronx, New York. The museum focuses on contemporary and 20th-century works created by A ...

, New York City, USA ''Music/Video'' (2006) * Museum Villa Stuck, Munich, Germany ''One Planet Under A Groove'' (2003) * Longwood Arts Project, New York City, USA ''DL: The “Down Low” in Contemporary Art'' (2003) *

The Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design ...

, Washington, DC, USA ''Fantasy Underfoot - The 47th Biennial Exhibition'' (2002) *

Carnegie Museum of Art The Carnegie Museum of Art, is an art museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was at what is now the Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsbur ...

, Pittsburg, USA ''Forum - Hello, My Name Is...'' (2002) *

, New York City, USA ''One Planet Under a Grove: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art'' (2001) * Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, USA "Third Annual Altoids Curiously Strong Collection" (2001) *

The Studio Museum in Harlem The Studio Museum in Harlem is an American art museum devoted to the work of artists of African descent. The museum's galleries are currently closed in preparation for a building project that will replace the current building, located at 144 W ...

, New York City, USA ''Freestyle'' (2001)

Collections

Smith-Pinelo's work is held in permanent collections including: * Norton Family Foundation, Los Angeles, USA * Altoids Curiously Strong Collection/

New Museum of Contemporary Art The New Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, is a museum in New York City at 235 Bowery, on Manhattan's Lower East Side. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-named New Scho ...

, New York, USA

References

External links

Susan Smith-Pinelo, Sometimes, 2000
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith-Pinelo, Susan Living people 21st-century American artists African-American contemporary artists American contemporary artists 21st-century American women artists American women performance artists American performance artists American women video artists American video artists Artists from Washington, D.C. Oberlin College alumni Columbia University School of the Arts alumni 20th-century American artists 20th-century American women artists Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American artists 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American artists