Betye Saar : extending the frozen moment /
essays by James Christen Steward ... [et al.].
- Ann Arbor : Berkeley : University of Michigan Museum of Art ; University of California Press, c2005.
- 176 p. : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 31 cm.
Published in conjunction with the exhibition Betye Saar: extending the frozen moment, held at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Oct. 15, 2005-Jan. 8, 2006; at the Norton Museum, West Palm Beach, Florida, Mar. 18-June 11, 2006; and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Sept. 8-Dec. 3, 2006.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 170-172) and index.
Acknowledgments / James Christen Steward -- Artist's statement / Betye Saar -- "Lest we forget": the liberating art of Betye Saar / James Christen Steward -- Looks and gazes: photographic fragmentation and the found object / Deborah Willis -- To/from Los Angeles with Betye Saar / Kellie Jones -- Reverencing the mortal: assemblage art as prophetic protest in post-World War II California / Richard Candida Smith -- From frozen moment to spectator participation: assemblage and installation in the oeuvre of Betye Saar / Lowery Stokes Sims -- Plates and catalogue entries / Sean M. Ulmer, Katharine Derosier Weiss -- Mysticism -- Ancestry and ritual -- Racial imagery and stereotypes -- Nostalgia and memory -- Aunt Hattie -- Colored -- Notes to the catalogue entries -- Artist's chronology -- Selected bibliography.
Publisher description : 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 the first retrospective 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. Contributor biographical notes : James Christen Steward is Director of the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA). Kellie Jones is Assistant Professor of the History of Art and African American Studies at Yale University. Lowery Stokes Sims is Director of the Studio Museum, Harlem, New York. Richard Candida Smith is Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley. Sean Ulmer is Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at UMMA. Deborah Willis is Professor of Photography and Imaging at New York University.