Betye Saar
Edited with text by Mario Mainetti, Chiara Costa, Elvira Dyangani Ose. Foreword by Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli. Essays by Elvira Dyangani Ose, Richard J. Powell, Deborah Willis, Kellie E. Jones.
Betye Saar: Uneasy Dancer brings together over 80 works including installations, assemblages, collages and sculptures by the pioneering Los Angeles artist Betye Saar (born 1926) produced between 1966 and 2016. This handsomely designed volume presents Saar’s work as a copiously illustrated timeline, with numerous documentary images and exhibition details.
"Uneasy Dancer" is an expression Saar has used to define both herself and her artistic practice: “my work moves in a creative spiral with the concepts of passage, crossroads, death and rebirth, along with the underlying elements of race and gender.” Through her use of found objects, personal memorabilia and derogatory images that evoke denied or distorted narratives, Saar developed a powerful social critique that challenges racial and sexist stereotypes deeply rooted in American culture.
Betye Saar: Uneasy Dancer accompanies the artist's solo exhibition at Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy (September 15, 2016 – January 8, 2017).
'Uneasy Dancer takes a comprehensive look at the life and work of Saar…[borrowing from] the artist’s signature assemblage technique in its structure, which centers on an illustrated timeline pieced together from Saar’s private archives.' Bookforum
Published by Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy, 2016
Format: Softcover, 8.9 x 6.7 inches / 320 pages / 600 illustrations
English Edition with Italian translations of the essays
Distributed by D.A.P.
ISBN: 9788887029673
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Fondazione Prada presents “Uneasy Dancer”, a comprehensive survey of work by Betye Saar (Los Angeles, 1926). This exhibition, hosted at the Nord Gallery, opens to the public from 15 September 2016 through 8 January 2017. Curated by Elvira Dyangani Ose, “Betye Saar: Uneasy Dancer” is the first exhibition of the American artist in Italy, and brings together over 80 works including installations, assemblages, collages and sculpture produced between 1966 and 2016.