Betye Saar : Black doll blues.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Saar, Betye, artist.

Contributor:

Jentleson, Katherine, writer of supplementary textual content.

Federman, Rachel, writer of supplementary textual content.

Leeser, Maddy Inez, interviewer.

Roberts Projects (Gallery), host institution.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Saar, Betye--Exhibitions.

Saar, Betye.

Saar, Betye--Interviews.

Saar, Betye--Criticism and interpretation.

Saar, Betye--Art collections.

Watercolor painting--21st century.

Watercolor painting.

Black dolls.

Dolls in art--Exhibitions.

Dolls in art.

Black people in art.

African American art--21st century--Exhibitions.

African American art.

African American women artists--California--Exhibitions.

African American women artists.

African American artists--California--Exhibitions.

African American artists.

Women artists--California--Exhibitions.

Women artists.

Genre:

Exhibition catalogs.

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

221 pages : illustrations ; 31 x 24 cm + 1 paper doll

Distribution:

New York : Artbook D.A.P.

Other Title:

Black doll blues

Place of Publication:

[Los Angeles, California] : Roberts Projects, [2022]

Summary:

This volume features new watercolor works on paper and assemblages by Betye Saar (born 1926) that incorporate the artist's personal collection of Black dolls. These watercolors showcase the artist's experimentation with vivid color and layered techniques, and her new interest in flat shapes. While Saar has previously used painting in her mixed-media collages, this is the first publication to focus on her watercolor works on paper. "Watercolor is something that children use, so I decided, maybe I'll paint something about children, maybe I'll paint the dolls," Saar says. Referencing the underrepresented history of Black dolls through Saar's artistic lens, this catalog distills several intersecting themes, imagery and objects in Saar's oeuvre, highlighting her prominent usage and reinvention of Black imagery. It contains 90 color images, including early assemblage works that feature Black dolls, such as Gris-Gris Box (1972) and Mti (1973), plus early sketchbooks and a curated selection of Saar's Black doll collection. It also includes original essays by Rachel Federman, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Drawings at the Morgan Library & Museum, and Katherine Jentleson, Merrie and Dan Boone Curator of Folk and Self-Taught Art at the High Museum of Art, and an interview with the artist by her granddaughter, Maddy Inez Leeser.

Contents:

Foreword / Julie Roberts

Section I: Sketchbooks

Black dolls in vibrant color / Katherine Jentleson

Section II: Assemblage and collage

Section III: Black doll collection

Interview with Betye Saar / Maddy Inez Leeser

Section IV: Watercolors

Soft power: Betye Saar's watercolor dolls / Rachel Federman

Section V: Exhibition

List of Black doll collection.

Notes:

Published on the occasion of an exhibition at Roberts Projects, Culver City, California, September 18-November 6, 2022.

ISBN:

1733664769

9781733664769

OCLC:

1289986844