Dear Friend, I am black.

      Adrian Piper a feminist artist during the 20th not only was she a feminist women but a risk taker in the art world. She changed the category of what we many thought art was. Piper created works that demonstrated the tough racial issues that had been occurring throughout her lifetime. In the 1980's many movements and social groups had been established but nothing quite interesting enough to Piper. She wanted to create a movement with the bi-racial standpoint on black. Her goal was mainly to promote the idea of being black and part of society, basically being noticed.         
        Pipers works weren't ordinary pictures of paintings and regular photographs, her illustrations were of newspapers and videos that made many question what she represented and what points she was trying to communicate. 

                                                  "Cornered" Adrian Piper
          One of the most prominent works by Piper is her monologue "Cornered. This monologue " shows the birth certificate of her father and mother as white and black. The monologue announces her as black, then interrogates the possible viewer responses, this explores the impact on interracial sexual relation of American beliefs."(WC 396) The monologue raised so many eyebrows and caught the attention of many.  

"Vanilla Nightmare" Adrian Piper

 Not only did Piper focus on verbally expressing her concerns and opinions she also used charcoal in her drawings. In one of her works called "Vanilla Nightmare" she constructs her piece of art using a news paper. This pieced was so unique that the New York Times had to write an article. The writer Michael Brenson says "Ms. Piper makes charcoal drawings over New York Times articles about race relations and advertisements for the good life. Her images are phantoms, often larger than the white people in the advertisements."( MB,NY Times) Adrian had grabbed everyones attention with the message she was trying to convey. Even though her works seemed simple and forgettable, these simple gestures and thought-out logical gestures started conversations.                             

  
 Fast forwarding to the present Adrian Piper has now" retired from being "black" she says "for professional utility, you may wish to refer to her as The Artist Formerly know as African-American."(ADP.com) This comment is the progression of her life, she has grown and now see's the development within herself. At what point do you decide this? In Chadwick, it is  explained that the movement of growing awareness was surrounded during the time period when Piper became who she is. 

Adrian Piper

Works Cited

• Guerrilla Girls. Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. N.p.: Penguin, 1998. Print. 
• Brenson, Michael. "Review/Art; Adrian Piper's Head-On Confrontation of Racism." The New York Times. The New York Times, 26 Oct. 1990. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.
• Piper, Adrian. "APRAF Berlin: Biography." APRAF Berlin: Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.