Betye Saar is best known for her mixed media work called, Medium of Assemblage. Her work explores the histories and experiences that she and other black people have experienced in the past and present. She studied design at the University of California and went on to study printmaking. In 1967 Saar's practice was greatly influenced after visiting an exhibition featuring the works of Joseph Cornell.
Her work becomes more radical after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and she began to repurpose different items like washboards or racist ephemera. As her practice continued, Saar's work began to also include her own family and her family history. Much of Saar's works focus on reclaiming racist images and having artistic power.
Birth Date
1926
Medium / Practice
Medium of Assemblage/ Sculpture/ Printmaking
Art Period
Contemporary
Time Period
1960s - Present
Museums / Collections
•Detroit Insitute of Arts
•San Franciso Museum of Modern Art
•The Studio Museum in Harlem
