Betye Saar
Text by Sara Cochran, PhD.
Betye Saar (born 1926) is a legend. For 60 years, she has created powerful artworks that question traditional roles and representations of African Americans and women in the US, as well as deeply personal works about her family history and spirituality. Betye Saar: Still Tickin’ considers the breadth of the artist’s career and its key themes. To contextualize Saar’s works, this volume includes writings by the artist from the 1970s to the present day as well as a recent interview with Saar in which she discusses her artistic practice and her views on history, including the current debate about police violence in the US. “My art becomes an explorer, a tracer of forgotten tribes, a seeker of sanctified visions,” explains Saar. “These works are what I leave behind.”
This publication accompanies the exhibition Betye Saar: Still Tickin’ at the Museum De Domijnen, Sittard, The Netherlands (June 28 - November 15, 2015) and at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, Arizona (January 30 - May 1, 2016). The exhibition is curated by Roel Arkesteijn, curator of contemporary art at De Domijnen (formerly Museum Het Domein) in Sittard, The Netherlands in partnership with Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.
Published by Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, Arizona and Museum De Domijnen, Sittard, The Netherlands, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 6.5 x 9 inches / 272 pages / 202 color images / 11 bw images
English
Distributed by D.A.P.
ISBN: 9780979893667
There is a touch of alchemy to Betye Saar’s artwork: transforming the simple and mundane into powerful art. Since the 1960s, her compelling, astute and expressive works reflect on African- American identity, spirituality and the interconnectedness between different cultures. This timely retrospective brings together recent work as well as historical pieces created over her six decade long career.