Betye Saar
Betye Saar will sign copies of her latest catalogue Betye Saar: Black Doll Blues at Roberts Projects' new gallery location (442 South La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, two blocks north of Wilshire.)
Betye Saar: Black Doll Blues features new watercolor works on paper and assemblages by Saar (born 1926) that incorporate the artist’s personal collection of Black dolls. These watercolors showcase the artist’s experimentation with vivid color and layered techniques, and her new interest in flat shapes. While Saar has previously used painting in her mixed media collages, this is the first publication to focus on her watercolor works on paper.
Black dolls from Saar's extensive collection along with sketchbooks, watercolors and related archival materials will be on view during the event. Additionally, a site-specific niche space created by Saar for Roberts Projects offers an immersive, unexpected experience through rotating installations and projects.
Betye Saar: Black Doll Blues
Published by Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, California, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 9 x 12 inches / 223 pages / 178 color images / 9 b&w images English
Distributed throughout the world by Artbook | D.A.P.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022905768
ISBN: 978-1-7336647-6-9
About Betye Saar
For over seven decades, Saar has created work that explores the social, political, and economic underpinnings of America’s collective memory. Early in her career, her work dealt with themes of 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 1960s, Saar takes on the feminist mantra “the personal is political” as a fundamental principle in her assemblage works. Her appropriation and transformation of Black collectibles, heirlooms and utilitarian objects solidified her status as a pioneer of the Assemblage movement. Saar continues to both actively produce work and inspire countless others.
Event Location
Roberts Projects, 442 South La Brea Avenue, located in the Mid-Wilshire district of Los Angeles, two blocks north of Wilshire Boulevard.
Parking
A private parking lot is adjacent to the building. Additional on-street metered parking is available.