Betye Saar, born in Los Angeles in 1926, emerged in the 1960s as a powerful figure in the redefinition of African American art. Over the past forty years, she has injected African American visual histories into mainstream visual culture by blending spiritual, political, and cultural iconography to create complex works with universal impact. This beautifully illustrated book accompanies an exhibition of Saar's work, showcasing the extraordinary depth and breadth of her achievement. It provides multiple vantage points from which to gain a richer understanding of Saar's career, American art of the 1960s, feminism, contemporary art, and California culture and politics.

Copub: University of Michigan Museum of Art

“LEST WE FORGET”: THE LIBERATING ART OF BETYE SAAR
James Christen Steward, Director, University of Michigan Museum of Art

ARTIST’S STATEMENT
Betye Saar

LOOKS AND GAZES: PHOTOGRAPHIC FRAGMENTATION AND THE FOUND OBJECT
Deborah Willis, Curator of Photography, The Smithsonian Institution

TO/FROM LOS ANGELES WITH BETYE SAAR
Kellie Jones, Assistant Professor of the History of Art and African American Studies, Yale University

REVERENCING THE MORTAL: ASSEMBLAGE ART AS PROPHETIC PROTEST
IN POST-WORLD WAR II CALIFORNIA
Richard Cándida Smith, Professor of History, University of California at Berkeley

FROM FROZEN MOMENT TO SPECTATOR PARTICIPATION: ASSEMBLAGE AND INSTALLATION IN THE OEUVRE OF BETYE SAAR
Lowery Stokes Sims, The Studio Museum in Harlem


CATALOGUE ENTRIES AND PLATES (GROUPED THEMATICALLY)
--MYSTICISM
--ANCESTRY AND RITUAL
--RACIAL IMAGERY AND STEREOTYPES
--NOSTALGIA AND MEMORY
--AUNT HATTIE
--COLORED
Sean M. Ulmer, University Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, University of Michigan Museum of Art
Katharine Derosier Weiss, Exhibitions Assistant, University of Michigan Museum of Art


NOTES TO THE CATALOGUE ENTRIES
ARTIST’S CHRONOLOGY
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX

James Christen Steward is Director of the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA). Deborah Willis is Professor of Photography and Imaging at New York University. Kellie Jones is Assistant Professor of the History of Art and African American Studies at Yale University. Richard Cándida Smith is Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley. Lowery Stokes Sims is Director of the Studio Museum, Harlem, New York. Sean M. Ulmer is Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at UMMA. Katharine Derosier Weiss is Exhibitions Assistant at the University of Michigan Museum of Art.

“As a splendid retrospective exhibit of Saar’s pioneering work tours the country, this richly interpretative and well-illustrated volume provides an essential overview of a major artist deeply involved in conveying the texture of African American life and the nature of femininity. . . . Saar’s interpretative approach to craft traditions, provocative iconography, bold deciphering of social attitudes, and resounding assertion of “the power of the individual” are all thoughtfully explicated in this invaluable volume.”—Donna Seaman, Booklist

“Gorgeous.”—Kevin Lynch, Capital Times

"Saar is undeniably one of the most visionary artists to emerge in the last forty years. A master storyteller, she gathers together materials bearing the weight of history to create new memories, recast old myths, and incite our imaginations. And like Saar's work, the accompanying essays by some of the nation's leading scholars are spectacular meditations on history, representation, memory, and the significance of Betye Saar's offerings."—Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams

Previous Exhibition Dates:
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, October 15, 2005-January 8, 2006
Norton Museum, West Palm Beach, Florida, March 18-June 11, 2006
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, September 8-December 3, 2006