Adrian Piper

Adrian Piper
Born	(1948-09-20)September 20, 1948 New York City, New York, United States
Alma mater	School of Visual Arts, City College of New York, Harvard University

Adrian Margaret Smith Piper (born September 20, 1948) is an American conceptual artist and philosophy professor. Her work addresses ostracism, otherness, and racist thought. She attended the School of Visual Arts, City College of New York, and Harvard University, where she earned her doctorate. Piper received visual arts fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1979 and 1982, and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1989. In 1991, she became the first female African American philosophy professor to receive academic tenure in the United States.

Early life and career

Adrian Piper was born September 20, 1948 in New York City in 1948. She was raised in Manhattan in an upper-middle-class black family, and attended a private school with mostly wealthy, white students. She graduated from the School of Visual Arts with an associate's degree in 1969, where she studied art. Piper then studied philosophy at the City College of New York and graduated with a bachelor's in 1974. Piper received her master's from Harvard University in 1977 and her doctorate in 1981. She also studied at the University of Heidelberg.

Piper was influenced by Sol LeWitt and Yvonne Rainer in the late 60s and early 70s. She worked at the Seth Siegelaub Gallery, known for its conceptual art exhibitions, in 1969. In 1970, she exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art's Information and began to study philosophy in college. Piper has said that she was kicked out of the art world during this time for her race and gender. Her work started to address ostracism, otherness, and attitudes around racism. In Berger's Critique of Pure Racism interview, Piper asserted that while she finds analysis of racism praiseworthy, she wants her artwork to help people confront their racist views.

Piper was awarded visual arts fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1979 and 1982, and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1989. Piper taught at Wellesley College, Harvard University, Stanford University, University of Michigan, Georgetown University, and University of California, San Diego. She became the first female African American philosophy professor to receive academic tenure in the United States in 1991.

As of 1999, Piper was divorced and did not have children.

Reception

Curator Ned Rivkin wrote that Piper "holds a singular position" in the art world.

References

Sources

• Farris, Phoebe, ed. (1999). Women Artists of Color: A Bio-critical Sourcebook to 20th Century Artists in the Americas. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 314–319. ISBN 978-0-313-30374-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• Grosenick, Uta; Becker, Ilka, eds. (2001). Women Artists in the 20th and 21st Century. Taschen. pp. 438–443. ISBN 978-3-8228-5854-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• Rifkin, Ned (1991). Directions: Adrian Piper "What It's Like, What It Is #2", June 19 – September 22, 1991. New York. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); no-break space character in |title= at position 68 (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

• Vickery, Jonathan; Costello, Diarmuid, eds. (2007). Art: Key Contemporary Thinkers. Berg. pp. 42–45. ISBN 978-0-85785-077-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)