Betye Saar forms an all-star group to housekeeper her legacy

In February, nine curators received handwritten letters from the artist Betye Saar, who tomorrow turns 99. A legendary artist known for her assembly attesting to histories of racism and survival in the face of it, Saar thanked the curators for their engagement with her work, then asked if they would help her look forward by helping create a “resource for future generations—curators, researchers, writers, and art historians—helping them connect with the heart of my practice.”

“Your first-hand experience, insight and unique perspectives make you invaluable in this effort and I will thank you for being part of this traditional group,” Sar wrote. “It is important for me that future generations can access the knowledge and perspectives of those who are closely related to my work.” Will her readers join the group responsible for such responsibilities?

All nine curators said they would and signed an initiative called Betye Saar Legacy Group, which will help ensure that museums that hope to learn more about the artists, art historians and critics can continue to do so in the coming decades.

“It’s an amazing opportunity, and it’s daunting: How do you cover the lives of people for nearly a century?” said Zoé Whitley, one of the members of the traditional organization. “But it’s a worthwhile opportunity to think about the many different people she’s known and evolved. It’s very exciting.”

Whitley, who is currently writing a biography of Saar, will serve on the Legacy Group alongside all-star curators such as Museum of Modern Art Director Christophe Cherix, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona director Elvira Dyangani Ose, and Mark Godfrey, who worked alongside Whitley on the exhibition “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power,” which prominently featured Saar’s art.

In the group are Esther Adler, who is the MOMA’s drawings and print curator; Carlo Barbatti, curator of Fondazione Prada in Milan, organized the Saar survey in 2016; Carol S. Eliel, senior curator of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Diana Seave Greenwald, collector curator of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; and Stephanie Seidel, the Miami Institute for Contemporary Art Curators, is currently conducting a doctoral dissertation on Saar’s work. They will assist Saar’s daughter (mostly Tracye), but Alison and Lezley are both artists – helping to provide access to documents and archive materials that Saar has retained over the years.

“I have worked with all the members over the years, each of whom has gathered unique knowledge about my creative process, a special insight,” Thal said in a statement. “I look forward to working on future projects with this particular individual, not only to think of colleagues, but also to consider my friends.”

Julie Roberts, co-founder of the Roberts Projects Gallery, long represented Saar, stressed that older organizations are not alternatives to real estate or retrospective alternatives, but complements these things. (There is indeed a 2027 European Saar retrospective, but Roberts said she can’t say where it will happen.)

Roberts said in a zoom conversation: “She hopes for the next generation – when she wasn’t around, she was still able to talk about her work with their desire to respect her, adding: “It’s not just retrospective, it’s not just a biography.”

The Los Angeles-based artist has been active since the 1960s and is known today for sculptures mainly based on the materials she has accumulated. “She’s in a new one Whitley said, adding, “Betty was able to see the world and then distil it into a combination.” Whitley noted that Saar was friendly to figures such as sculptor David Hammons, who served as a teacher for artists such as painter Kerry James Marshall.

She is still famous for her sculptures in 1972 Aunt Jemima’s Liberationin which Aunt Jemima’s statue was equipped with a small broom and a small rifle, although Saar continued to produce prints and huge installations. (Saar retains archival material related to this and many other artworks; the Getty Institute promotes a program separate from the traditional group, which focuses on digitizing her archives.)

Roberts noted that Saar is still working, even though she is close to 100 years old. “She just wanted to spend time making art, in the garden and in the family and family,” Roberts said. “She has transferred the business to me, and there is a daughter,” Tracy.

The mission of the Legacy Group was intentionally cancelled because it was designed to promote interaction with her work. “It’s more about serving others,” Cherix said. Cherix helped Moma get dozens of prints before he became a director this year. “I really like the idea of creating a group of people, each of whom has some type of experience, and they might understand discipline or work for a while. We can really be together as a group that helps people understand her work better and make sure they keep as much of their work as possible.”

Cherix, like the rest of the group, has spent a lot of time at Saar, and he continues to do it whenever he is in Los Angeles. His work in the group will help others understand everything he has learned along the way. “It’s a great honor if we can help people by sharing our experience with Betty,” he said.