This mixed media, collage, assemblage and installation artist’s work often includes images of stereotyped African-American figures from folk culture and advertising, like Aunt Jemima, Uncle Tom, Little Black Sambo, African ritual and tribal objects, African American folk traditions and/or family memorabilia.

Three things:

1. Her signature piece (one of her better-known and controversial pieces) is entitled “The Liberation of Aunt Jemima.” It was her first protest piece. It is owned by the University of California, Berkeley.
2. Saar’s work is among the collections of The Whitney Museum of American Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institute, Museum of Fine Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Studio Museum in Harlem, and many more.
3. A native Californian, octogenarian Betye Saar was born and raised in the Los Angeles area. She grew up in Pasadena during the Great Depression, regularly visited her grandmother in Watts, took art classes at Pasadena City College, earned a BA from the University of California at Los Angeles, and pursued graduate studies at California State University at Long Beach, the University of Southern California, and California State University at Northridge. The region serves as a consistent thread through her life and her work.

Where to learn more about Betye Saar:

• http://www.betyesaar.net/
• NPR: Life is Collage for Artist Betye Saar
• Betye Saar: The Liberation of Aunt Jemima