Betye Saar: Visualizing the Energy of Los Angeles
The iconic artist on infusing her work with the mystical and recreating her mural LA Energy from 1983
The iconic artist on infusing her work with the mystical and recreating her mural LA Energy from 1983
We talk to Los Angeles-born artist Betye Saar (b. 1926), presenting with Roberts Projects at Frieze Los Angeles. As one of the artists who ushered in the development of Assemblage art, her practice reflects on African American identity, spirituality and the connectedness between different cultures. Her symbolically rich body of work has evolved over time to demonstrate the environmental, cultural, political, racial, technological, economic, and historical context in which it exists.
For over six decades, Saar has created assemblage works that explore the social, political, and economic underpinnings of America’s collective memory. She began her career at the age of 35 producing work that dealt with mysticism, nature and family. Saar’s art became political in the 1970s namely with the assemblage The Liberation of Aunt Jemima in 1972. As did many of the women who came to consciousness in the 1960’s, Saar takes on the feminist mantra “the personal is political” as a fundamental principle in her assemblage works. Her appropriation of black collectibles, heirlooms, and utilitarian objects are transformed through subversion, and yet given her status as a pioneer of the Assemblage movement, the impact of Saar’s oeuvre on contemporary art has yet to be fully acknowledged or critically assessed. Among the older generation of Black American artists, Saar is without reproach and continues to both actively produce work and inspire countless others.
See Saar’s work at Roberts Projects (booth A12) at Frieze Los Angeles until February 17; and explore her works online at Frieze Viewing Room.
Artworks featured
Betye Saar
L.A. Energy, 1983/2022
Mural
35 x 153 ft (10.7 x 46.6 m) 1983 iteration
12 x 36 ft (3.7 x 11 m) 2022 iteration
Courtesy of the Artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles
Betye Saar
Two Black Hands with Star Heart, 2021
Watercolor on paper
13.25 x 11 in (33.7 x 27.9 cm)
Courtesy of the Artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles
Photo Paul Salveson
Betye Saar
Mystic Hand w/ Comet, 2020
Watercolor on paper
13 x 11 in (33 x 27.9 cm)
Courtesy of the Artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles
Photo Paul Salveson
Betye Saar
Black Hand w/ Yellow Planets, 2021
Watercolor on paper
13.25 x 11 in (33.7 x 27.9 cm)
Courtesy of the Artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles
Photo Paul Salveson
