Black History Month: Betye Saar
Welcome back! If this is your first time on my blog, I’ve started a project for Black History Month, sharing some of the visual and literary artists who inspire me. Let’s talk about:
Artist Betye Saar in her studio. Photo credit: David Sprague for Roberts Projects
Well. I’ll just say I am so glad to be on this planet during her lifetime. This assemblage artist is best known for “The Liberation of Aunt Jemima,” in which she transformed a racist “mammy” cookie jar into a rebel armed with a broom, a grenade, and a rifle. Among the many reasons I love her and her work:
She was born, raised, and educated in the Los Angeles area, where I grew up
She kept producing new pieces while raising her three daughters (a writer and two visual artists)
Her work has always been upfront about anti-Black racism, even at a time when vanishingly few art galleries would even look at art created by Black people.
Would you believe art is her second career? She started out as a social worker. She turns 97 years old this year, and she’s still making new work. Just phenomenal.
Stick around for the first full week of Black History Month. There are lots more artists to come!
