{"id":139961,"date":"2019-10-03T09:00:14","date_gmt":"2019-10-03T13:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=139961"},"modified":"2019-10-04T12:27:03","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T16:27:03","slug":"the-ritual-of-american-racism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/10\/03\/the-ritual-of-american-racism\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ritual of American Racism"},"content":{"rendered":"

The multidisciplinary artist Betye Saar is best known for her assemblages: meticulous arrangements of found objects, religious iconography, and cultural ephemera that, together, interrogate the ritual of American racism. \u201cBetye Saar: Call and Response<\/a>,\u201d the first of two major solo exhibitions this fall devoted to Saar\u2019s legendary career, displays the artist\u2019s work alongside her sketchbooks, which are filled with notes and detailed diagrams that look surprisingly similar to her finished pieces. It\u2019s a rare and satisfying peek inside the mind of one of our greatest living artists. A selection of images from the exhibition\u2019s catalogue<\/a> appears below.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Betye Saar, The Edge of Ethics<\/em>, 2010. Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. \u00a9 Betye Saar. Photo \u00a9 Museum Associates \/ LACMA.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Betye Saar, Sketchbook<\/em>, 2009\u201310. Collection of Betye Saar. Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. \u00a9 Betye Saar. Photo \u00a9 Museum Associates \/ LACMA.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Betye Saar, The Weight of Buddha (Contemplating Mother Wit and Street Smarts)<\/em>, 2014, mixed media assemblage, 19.5″ x 7″ x 7″. Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Betye Saar, Sketchbook<\/em>, 2013. Collection of Betye Saar. Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. \u00a9 Betye Saar. Photo \u00a9 Museum Associates \/ LACMA.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Betye Saar, I\u2019ll Bend But I Will Not Break<\/em>, 1998, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Gift of Lynda and Stewart Resnick through the 2018 Collectors Committee. \u00a9 Betye Saar. Photo \u00a9 Museum Associates \/ LACMA.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Betye Saar, Sketchbook<\/em>, 1998. Collection of Betye Saar. Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. \u00a9 Betye Saar. Photo \u00a9 Museum Associates \/ LACMA.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Betye Saar, Supreme Quality<\/em>, 1998. The Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Mortimer and Sara Hays Acquisition Fund. \u00a9 Betye Saar. Photo courtesy Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, by Tim Lanterman.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Betye Saar, Sketchbook<\/em>, 1998. Collection of Betye Saar. Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. \u00a9 Betye Saar. Photo \u00a9 Museum Associates \/ LACMA.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBetye Saar: Call and Response<\/a>\u201d is on view at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art through April 5, 2020. The show will then travel to the Morgan Library and Museum in New York. All images taken from <\/em>Betye Saar: Call and Response<\/a>, by Carol S. Eliel, out now from Prestel and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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