Sean Bieri for Detroit Art Review:
“Weapons and White Music, a compact anthology of Pinder’s art from the last decade or so, on view at Wayne State University’s Elaine Jacob Gallery now through April 27, showcases a body of work that balances aesthetics and activism. It addresses issues of race not with unequivocal slogans but in an audio-visual language that prompts contemplation, investigation, and soul-searching. There are no handy wall labels here to coach the visitor, so inevitably, the nature of that contemplation will vary from one person to the next.”

The performance by Jefferson Pinder is one of more than 100 new acquisitions recently announced by the institution

The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) has recently acquired more than 100 works in line with the institution’s efforts to diversify its holdings, emphasizing connections to the Baltimore area and highlighting the work of women artists and artists of color. The museum is also diversifying the media represented in its holdings: interdisciplinary artist Jefferson Pinder’s Ben-Hur (2012) is the first performance art piece in the museum's collection.

Pinder’s incisive, ambitious work contemplates the intersection of art, labour politics and the Black American experience, rendering simple, dynamic conceits on an operatic scale. Ben-Hur is no exception; the performance involves six Black men engaging in actions that reference the visual history of labour in art. The BMA’s acquisition includes both 2013 video documentation of a past performance and detailed instructions on how to stage it live in future iterations.

—Torey Akers, January 12, 2024.

Mule, 2006
8mm digitally transferred and edited

Pinder’s portrayal of the black body at work, under distress, and moving through pain and exhaustion constitutes an act of resistance and social commentary. As Pinder states, “I portray the black body both frenetically and through drudgery in order to convey relevant cultural experiences.”

Mule is about resistance. Pulling a three hundred pound log encrusted with pressed tin becomes a metaphor for struggle. In this performance piece, forward progress on an inner city street proves near impossible. The object that Pinder moves has been weathered by time and dissected from deteriorating Baltimore homes. The artist literally pulls the wreckage of past generations. In a struggle to move forward, every ounce of energy is utilized to create momentum. Like a mule, Pinder acts as a beast-of-burden, not focusing on the end, rather pushing forward with blinders, his labor amounting to a pure meditation of what has come before and what lies ahead.

Above: Kasiem Walters performing Zulu Sign Language at Virginia Tech’s Moss Arts Center

February marked the opportunity to travel to Blacksburg, VA with my collaborator Kasiem Walters in order to work through a new piece at Virginia Tech’s Moss Arts Center.

A project I’ve been developing over the past 6 years, Zulu Sign Language, considers the complex hybrid of politics and movement within sign language.The work originates from Thamsanqa Jantjie, the ‘fake’ sign language interpreter who performed at the Nelson Mandela Memorial service and unintentionally shed light on corruption in South Africa and the disenfranchisement of the deaf community.

The jibberish signing was loosely titled Zulu Sign Language by the former president, Jacob Zuma. When confronted with his administration’s handling of the hiring of Jantjie, President Zuma took the insult a step further and then coined the fake signs as ‘Zulu-Sign Language’. Since then, I've been on a journey to understand what Black nationalism looks like in the body, through the tradition of sign. Kasiem, a truly gifted performer, is helping realize the work with power and integrity.

Video documentation of a studio performance of the piece is forthcoming.

Pinder, Walters and audio engineer Josh Spelman-Hall workshopping the performance backstage

Above: Jefferson Pinder performing Monumental @ Untitled Art Fair Miami on December 1, 2021

Over the past few months, I’ve found myself jumping headfirst into my first sabbatical year, excited to take advantage of the time dedicated to my practice. Kicking it off in December 2021, I presented my performance, Monumental, at Untitled Art Fair Miami. This performative disruption of the commercial art space forced spectators to deal with the struggles of the body over the commodification of art (or not).

In January, video documentation of my 2020 performance piece Prowl was included in “Stolen Goods”, a group exhibition at Marketview Arts at York College of Pennsylvania. The catalogue is forthcoming; you can follow the exhibition link for more information on how to order a copy.