Ada Pinkston
September 21 -
November 9, 2024
Visionary Leaders Circle Donor Preview:
Fri. Sept 20, 5 - 7 PM
Opening Reception / Meet the Artist:
Sept 21, 12 - 2 PM
I’m not your superwoman
MEDIA:
- PRESS RELEASE
- POSTCARD
SEE BELOW FOR PROGRAMMING DETAILS!
I AM NOT YOUR SUPERWOMAN…
I'm not your superwoman
I'm not the kind of girl that you can let down and think that everything's okay
Boy, I am only human
—Daryl Simmons, Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds and L.A. Reid.
“The recital in this song sung by Karyn White and released in her self-titled debut album in 1989 is one that still resonates to Black women today. In 2024.” - Ada Pinkston
Transformer launches its 22nd Annual Exhibition Series this September 2024 with I’m Not Your Superwoman - a solo exhibition by Baltimore, MD based artist Ada Pinkston. Inspired by artist William Pope.L, Pinkston performed a ‘crawl’ series at three federal buildings in Washington, DC this summer. The inhabitants and visitors of each building offered a different response, but similar to the ways that police responded to Pope. L in the 90s, those whose job is meant to surveil people in these spaces saw a Black person crawling as a threat.
“As the USA is on the heels of electing our first woman President, many questions continue to circulate. Does the world still place superhuman expectations on women? Does the world still place superhuman expectations on Black women? Do we place superhuman expectations on ourselves? Does the internet manosphere escalate these schisms, or just place a mirror on what we already know to be true?” - Ada Pinkston
Repetitive images of Pinkston’s crawl performance documentation will be placed throughout Transformer to render and create abstract moments of experiencing her movements within and outside the ‘art space’ context. This image repetition is also intended as a reminder of both the repetitive cycles of the artist’s questions, and the positionality of our bodies. I’m Not Your Superwoman is Ada Pinkston’s first solo exhibition.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Ada Pinkston is a multimedia artist, educator, and cultural organizer living and working in Baltimore, Maryland. Her performance work has been featured at a variety of spaces including The Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building, The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Walters Art Museum, The Peale Museum, Transmodern Performance Festival, P.S.1, The New Museum, Light City Baltimore and the streets of Berlin, Baltimore, Orlando, Washington DC, and New York. A graduate of Wesleyan University (B.A.) and Maryland Institute College of Art (M.F.A.) she is a lecturer at Towson University. She has presented public lectures on memory and public space at The French Embassy, NYU, UCLA, USC, Columbia University, and The National Gallery of Art. Her work has been supported by The Yaddo Artist Residency and McDowell Colony. Her work can be found in the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the augmented reality sculpture garden at Magic Johnson Park in South Central Los Angeles. Limited editions of her most recent work can be found at The Mimosa House London.
EXHIBITION PROGRAMMING