Jefferson Pinder, a Chicago-based video/performance artist, seeks to find identity through the most dynamic circumstances. His experimental videos and films feature minimal performances that reference music videos and physical theater. Pinder’s work provides personal and social commentary in accessible and familiar formats. Inspired by soundtracks, he utilizes hypnotic popular music and surreal performances to underscore themes dealing with Afro-Futurism, physical endurance, and blackness. His work has been featured in numerous group and solo shows, including exhibitions at the Studio Museum in Harlem; the Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut; and Showroom Mama in Rotterdam, Netherlands, among others. Pinder’s work was featured at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery exhibition “Recognize.” Jefferson received his B.A. in theater from the University of Maryland and studied at the Asolo Theatre Conservatory in Sarasota, Florida. In 2001, Jefferson returned to the University of Maryland to receive his M.F.A. in mixed media. Currently he is an associate professor in the Contemporary Practices department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
