We Was Mostly ‘Bout Survival
2017
Identity Art and Identity Politics
Mixed media assemblage on vintage ironing board
The Eileen Harris Norton Collection
Saar repurposed a vintage ironing board on which she painted a bird’s eye view of the slave ship, Brookes. The ship is crowded with bodies and other items have been attached to the board such as an old bar of soap, and a washboard printed with a photograph of a black woman doing laundry. Symbolic of black female domestic labour combined with the symbols of diasporic trauma portrays a powerful story about African American history
Betye Saar
Feminist Art, Identity Art and Identity Politics, Assemblage, Collage
Born: 30 July 1926, California, USA
Nationality: African-American
Saar is an artist best known for her work in the medium of assemblage. She is also a visual storyteller and printmaker. In the 1970s Saar was a part of the Black Arts Movement which engaged with myths and stereotypes about race and gender. Her work is highly political and challenges the negative ideas about African Americans
Jezzie G 