Leni Sinclair
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Leni Sinclair, born Magdalene Arndt, is an American photographer and radical political activist. She has photographed rock and jazz musicians since the early 1960s. She was the co-founder of the
White Panther Party The White Panthers were an anti-racist political collective founded in November 1968 by Pun Plamondon, Leni Sinclair, and John Sinclair. It was started in response to an interview where Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, wa ...
along with John Sinclair and Pun Plamondon. She lives in
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
.


Early life

Magdalene Arndt was born on March 8, 1940, in
Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...
, Germany, later renamed
Kaliningrad Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...
when it became territory of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. She grew up in the village of Vahldorf near
Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...
in
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
where she listened to American jazz artists such as
Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
,
Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
and
Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...
on
Radio Luxemburg RTL Radio is a German commercial radio station based in Berlin and the part of the RTL Group. It originated as the German language service of Radio Luxembourg, which began broadcasting after World War II from Luxembourg. It broadcasts adult c ...
. She emigrated to the United States in 1959, living with relatives in Detroit while studying geography at
Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...
. There, she was involved with a short-lived arts project called the Red Door Gallery. In 1964, she met poet and jazz critic John Sinclair, and with 14 other people, they founded the Detroit Artists Workshop on November 1, 1964. That group soon established a network of communal houses, and a performance space and print shop. Arndt began photographing jazz musicians performing in Detroit, including
John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...
,
Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...
,
Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...
and Yusuf Lateef. She married John Sinclair in 1965 at the
First Unitarian Church of Detroit The First Unitarian Church of Detroit was located at 2870 Woodward Avenue in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. Built between 1889 and 1890, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It was destroyed by fire on May 10, 2014. ...
on Cass Avenue. They had two children, Marion Sunny Sinclair, born in 1967, and Celia Sanchez Mao Sinclair, born in 1970.


Art and activism

In October 1965, the Detroit Artists Workshop was raided by 25 police officers, and six people, including Sinclair's husband John, were arrested on marijuana charges. John Sinclair, already on probation as a result of a previous marijuana arrest, was later sentenced to six months in jail. When he was released in August 1966, Leni organized a party and a rock and roll band called the
MC5 MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...
performed. At first, the Sinclairs, who were jazz fans, disliked the MC5, but soon they recognized their creativity and became fans. John Sinclair became their manager, and Leni Sinclair started photographing their performances. Her photos of the band have been described as "iconic". When the
Grande Ballroom The Grande Ballroom ( ') is a historic live music venue located at 8952 Grand River Avenue in the Petosky-Otsego neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. The building was designed by Detroit engineer and architect Charles N. Agree in 1928 and origin ...
opened on October 6, 1966, Leni Sinclair teamed up with poster artist
Gary Grimshaw Gary Grimshaw (February 25, 1946 – January 13, 2014) was an American graphic artist active in Detroit and San Francisco who specialized in designing rock concert posters. He was also a radical political activist with the White Panther Party and r ...
and formed the Magic Veil Light Company to produce psychedelic light shows during rock and roll performances. On January 24, 1967, the Detroit Artists Workshop was again raided, along with several other locations. Both John and Leni Sinclair were arrested, as were 54 other people. Although most of those arrested were never charged, John Sinclair faced ten years in prison for a third marijuana conviction. Released on bail, he set out with Leni and Grimshaw to reorganize the workshop into Trans-Love Energies Unlimited, named after a lyric in a
Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...
song. The new group was organized as a "new total cooperative tribal living and working commune" whose stated purpose was to "promote self reliance and tribal responsibility among the artists, craftsmen and other lovers". Trans-Love's first major event was a
Love-in A love-in is a peaceful public gathering focused on meditation, love, music, sex and/or use of recreational drugs. The term was coined by Los Angeles radio comedian Peter Bergman, who also hosted the first such event on Easter, 26 March 1967 in ...
on April 30, 1967 at
Belle Isle Park Belle Isle Park, known simply as Belle Isle (), is a island park in Detroit, Michigan, developed in the late 19th century. It consists of Belle Isle, an island in the Detroit River, as well as several surrounding islets. The U.S.-Canada border ...
, an island in the
Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively refe ...
. The event was peaceful for most of the day, but after members of the
Outlaws Motorcycle Club The Outlaws Motorcycle Club, incorporated as the American Outlaws Association or its acronym, A.O.A., is an outlaw motorcycle club that was formed in McCook, Illinois in 1935. It is one of the largest outlaw motorcycle clubs in the world and histo ...
beat a man, a riot started. About 150 police officers dispersed the crowd, clubbing people from horseback. According to Leni Sinclair, who was pregnant at the time, "the police really started the trouble and were blaming us." Less than three months later, the
1967 Detroit riot The 1967 Detroit Riot, also known as the 12th Street Riot or Detroit Rebellion, was the bloodiest of the urban riots in the United States during the "Long, hot summer of 1967". Composed mainly of confrontations between Black residents and the De ...
broke out resulting in 43 deaths, and the destruction of 2000 buildings, mostly by fire. In the aftermath, Trans-Love Energies provided assistance to many people who had been left homeless by the riot. But the police increased their harassment of the group. After two fire bombings, ongoing police harassment, and a curfew in Detroit due to
the riot ''The Riot'' is a 1913 American short comedy film directed by Mack Sennett and starring Fatty Arbuckle. Cast * Phyllis Allen * Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle * Alice Davenport * Hank Mann * Charles Murray * Mabel Normand * Ford Sterling * Al St. Joh ...
that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Trans-Love abandoned Detroit and relocated to
Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...
, settling into two Victorian homes at 1510 and 1520 Hill Street; 28 people lived in the commune.


White Panther Party

On November 1, 1968, the
White Panther Party The White Panthers were an anti-racist political collective founded in November 1968 by Pun Plamondon, Leni Sinclair, and John Sinclair. It was started in response to an interview where Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, wa ...
was formed by Leni Sinclair, John Sinclair, and Pun Plamondon. The organization pledged to support the
Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...
and had a ten-point platform that included "total assault on the culture", demanding the end of money, free food, free medical care, free access to information technology, the end of corporate rule, freeing all prisoners, freeing conscripted soldiers, and freedom from "phony leaders".


Later years

The Sinclairs were divorced in 1977 and they then donated their papers to the
Bentley Historical Library The Bentley Historical Library is the campus archive for the University of Michigan and is located on the University of Michigan's North Campus in Ann Arbor. It was established in 1935 by the regents of the University of Michigan. Its mission is ...
at the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
. Leni Sinclair continued doing photography and lived in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
for several years before returning to Detroit in the 1990s. In 1998, a retrospective of her work was held at the
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Municipal Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen () is an art museum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The name of the museum is derived from the two most important collectors of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans and Daniël George van Beuningen. It is located at ...
in
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
. She has written two books, ''The Detroit Jazz Who's Who'' and ''Detroit Rocks! A Pictorial History of Motor City Rock and Roll 1965-1975''. In January 2016, Sinclair was selected as the year's Kresge Eminent Artist, a $50,000 award given by the
Kresge Foundation The Kresge Foundation is a philanthropic private foundation headquartered in Troy, Michigan, United States. The foundation works to expand opportunities in America's cities through grantmaking and investing in arts and culture, education, enviro ...
. Between Feb 5 2021 and May 2, 2021, MoCAD
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) is a non-collecting contemporary art museum located in Detroit. MOCAD is housed in a building, a converted former auto dealership designed by architect Andrew Zago. The architecture of the building ...
exhibited the first museum show dedicated to Leni's photography and published a major monograph on Leni Sinclair's photographic work
Motor City Underground: Leni Sinclair Photographs 1963-1978
this 408 page photographic and biographical history was edited by Cary Loren and Lorraine Wild, and served as an exhibition catalog for her show at MoCAD.


Leni Sinclair Archive

In 2013, Sinclair received a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for a one-year project to create a public archive of the previously "disorganized negatives" of 57,000 photos of the Detroit music scene that she has taken over a half century period.


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Leni 1940 births Living people American women photographers German emigrants to the United States Wayne State University alumni 21st-century American women