CHICAGO, IL.- A pair of works by Howardena Pindell will highlight Hindman’s April 19th Post War & Contemporary Art auction. The remarkable dot collages anchor a group of artworks by prominent women artists, including Magdalena Abakanowicz, Miyoko Ito, Gertrude Abercrombie and Alice Baber. Powerful works by Kerry James Marshall, Leon Polk Smith, Jack Bush and Winfred Rembert will also be featured.

Howardena Pindell - "Beyond being dazzling objects, the dot constructions have compounded depth to them, both in the layers of material beauty and the levels of experiential meaning,” commented Zack Wirsum, Hindman Vice President of Post War & Contemporary Art. “The colorful chads, so particularly stacked, are like the many hats and scars Pindell wears. All of this informs her compelling and complex production.”

With an oeuvre that confronts social and structural issues from racism to feminism, Pindell has become renowned for her abstract, mixed media and video artworks. In her roles as an artist, educator, and curator, social justice is a key thread throughout Pindell’s career.

Hindman is pleased to present two archetypical examples of Pindell’s dot collages, her 1977 Untitled #83 (lot 26; estimate: $40,000-60,000) and her 1974 Kensington Series #3 (lot 27; estimate: $30,000-50,000). While her colorful dot collages reflect her fascination with the concept of regeneration, they also stem from her own early experiences with racism. The circles first stood out to Pindell when she was at a root beer stand with her father as a child and noticed red dots stuck to the bottom of their mugs, which were markers of which glassware was appropriate for use by nonwhites in Jim Crow’s America. The circles also reference the need for renewal after Pindell experienced physical trauma following a car accident in 1979. Similar to the revitalization represented in the circles, she also had to enter the recovery process.

Gertrude Abercrombie

Hindman is no stranger to offering works by “the Queen of the Bohemians,” Gertrude Abercrombie. Following the firm’s presentation of the most significant collection of works by the artist last September and a new world auction record in December, we will offer six exquisitely composed Abercrombie works. The highlight of the group, Birds Eggs and Dominoes with Pyramid, 1963 (lot 30; estimate: $50,000-70,000), is a strong display of the evolution of Abercrombie’s work. The austere landscape, which we see frequently in her paintings, is made more unique with the depiction of a pyramid, which only appears in a handful of her works.

“The Godmother of Installation Art” | Magdalena Abakanowicz

Known for her experimental and experiential sculptures, Magdalena Abakanowicz created massive, womb-like three-dimensional fiber works called Abakans. NANA (Red with Black) (lot 64; estimate: $30,000 - 50,000) is a behemoth, a true Abakan, roughhewn and laboriously stitched, and an excellent example of the type of experience the artist wished to create for viewers.

Leading Women Abstractionists: Miyoko Ito and Alice Baber

Full of expressive colors and remarkable precision, Ito’s paintings have garnered significant attention in recent years. The Chicago artist’s work often conveys scenes of interiors, landscapes and the human body. As the world auction record holder for Ito, the firm expects this to be closely watched ahead of the sale.

E.E. 179 (the ken) (lot 65; estimate: $50,000 - 70,000) initially presents as beguiling abstraction, but it also reveals structural references to architecture and landscape and a combination of interior and exterior space. It also serves as a window into Ito’s intensely personal dream world in dusk and dawn tones.

Another revered abstractionist, Alice Baber had an obsession with color that informed all her work. Baber’s 1973 Dance of the Wind Cave (lot 59; $30,000 - 50,000) is a beautifully fluid watercolor that perfectly captures her tendency to satisfy what she termed “color hunger,” with its shifting forms of color that have a kaleidoscope-like quality.

Additional Top Lots:

Lot 25 | Kerry James Marshall’s Curtained Window, 2005 | Estimate: $150,000 - 200,000
Lot 10 | Jack Bush’s Green Diamond, 1963 | Estimate: $50,000-70,000
Lot 127 | Winfred Rembert’s Juke Joint, 2000 | Estimate: $50,000-70,000
Lot 11 | Leon Polk Smith’s Constellation P, 1969 | Estimate: $40,000-60,000
The full auction can be viewed here, and the digital catalogue can be viewed here.

Bidding for the April 19th auction will begin at 10am CT and will be available in person at Hindman’s Chicago headquarters, via absentee and telephone bid and online via Hindman’s Digital Bid Room. Preview of the auction will be available from Friday, April 14 through Tuesday, April 18.