Betye Saar
Edited with text by Yinshi Lerman-Tan, Sóla Saar Agustsson. Foreword by Christina Nielsen. Text by Hilton Als, Tiffany E. Barber, Ishmael Reed.
This volume features the Huntington Library and Museum’s commissioned site-specific installation Drifting toward Twilight (2023) by Betye Saar (born 1926). A solitary canoe drifts on a bed of brambles, illuminated by a cool neon glow. Inside, three passengers are transported to a mystical destination by two otherworldly beings. Guided by the dawn, the dusk and the phases of the moon, they transition from one cosmic reality to another. Part dreamscape and part altar, Drifting toward Twilight conjures journeys and the constant cycles of the natural world. Like cards pulled from a tarot deck, each object inside takes on a symbolic power: a monumental canoe, birdcages, antlers and plant material harvested from the Huntington’s grounds. This richly illustrated companion book includes a preface and a 1973 interview with the artist by author and longtime friend Ishmael Reed. Other contributions include a profile by Hilton Als and a new interview with the artist by Sóla Saar Agustsson, her granddaughter.
Published by Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 6 x 0.87 x 9 inches / 104 pages / 92 color pages
English
Distributed throughout the world by Artbook | D.A.P.
ISBN: 978-1646570423