Artist Betye Saar: Black L.A. art movement

 Artist Betye Saar, an important part of the Black L.A. art movement in the 1970s, and one of Los Angeles' modern art iconoclasts, watched Simon Rodia build the Watts Towers as a child.

This experience went on to subconsciously influence her penchant for collecting as well as the detailed execution of her own art, even though she tried her hand at social work, graphic design, and enamel jewelry before she found her voice as one of America's most important assemblage artists.

On a recent visit, I learned Saar is someone who embodies the notion of speaking softly while carrying a big stick. She is a diminutive firebrand, beautiful and energetic despite her 89 years, ready with stories and recalling events as if they happened yesterday.

Driving up to her Laurel Canyon studio, one experiences a lost era of Los Angeles, a neighborhood of mid-century, DIY architecture that once housed the city's most creative minds.

Saar's plot is a small, hilly compound that includes a sprawling flower garden, as well as her home of 50 years, where she raised her three daughters: artists Lezley, Alison and writer Tracye.

Once inside, if you are even remotely familiar with Saar's work, you immediately recognize the spacious studio as if it were one of her installations: immaculate, color coded by project and shelved by theme.

Betye Saar and the political nature of her assemblage art.

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Betye Saar, "Sock it to 'Em," 2011. Mixed media assemblage, 17.75 x 8 x 5 in. (45.1 x 20.3 x 12.7 cm). Private Collection; Los Angeles. | Photo: Robert Wedemeyer; courtesy of the artist and Roberts & Tilton, Culver City, California.

Betye Saar, Palos Verdes Library Gallery. 1961.

Link:

https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/betye-saar-reflecting-american-culture-through-assemblage-art?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=kcet