Betye Saar's 100th Birthday Exhibition at Roberts Projects
In celebration of Betye Saar's centennial, Roberts Projects in Los Angeles is presenting an exhibition featuring her earliest professional endeavors, especially in costume design, with more than 200 archival items on display. Saar, an influential assemblage artist who examined the Black American narrative for over seventy years, unfortunately passed away last month. Among the highlights is a full-wall photograph of a youthful Saar in dance. Additional art news includes the Joan Mitchell Foundation's Fellowships for 2026, the destruction of over 4,500 cultural sites in Ukraine due to Russian missile strikes, and the reemergence of a Picasso piece from 1961. Elvira Dyangani Ose will take over from Koyo Kouoh at the Zeitz Museum, and a 2,300-year-old fragment of Homer's Odyssey is now housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Key facts
- Roberts Projects in Los Angeles is exhibiting Betye Saar's earliest professional works on her 100th birthday.
- The exhibition focuses on Saar's costume design and includes over 200 archival objects.
- Betye Saar died last month after a seven-decade career as an assemblage artist.
- The Joan Mitchell Foundation announced its 2026 Fellowships.
- Russian missile attacks have damaged or destroyed over 4,500 cultural sites in Ukraine.
- The activism group Everyone Hates Elon created a mock ad with Jeffrey Epstein wearing Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses.
- A Picasso missing since 1961 from the University of Pittsburgh has resurfaced; the Guggenheim is going to court to recover it.
- Elvira Dyangani Ose will succeed Koyo Kouoh as artistic director of Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town.
- The National Gallery of Art is studying the impact of racecar vibrations on artwork ahead of Trump's 'Freedom 250 Grand Prix'.
- A 2,300-year-old papyrus fragment of Homer's Odyssey is on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- A 17th-century still life by Clara Peeters will be publicly attributed for the first time at the National Museum of Norway.
- Divers discovered a 2,000-year-old Roman shipwreck off the Sicilian coast.
- The San Diego Museum of Art laid off 11 employees due to rising costs.
- The New Museum's show 'The Bowery: Devil's Mile' opens September 24 and traces 400 years of the Bowery.
- Alan Michelson's 'The Oyster' on Governors Island highlights Indigenous shell middens.
- Nathaniel Mary Quinn's portraits at the National Public Housing Museum reckon with memory and family.
- The documentary 'American Doctor' indicts US leadership and media regarding Gaza.
- The BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia featured six films on art and resistance.
- Maori Karmael Holmes, founder of BlackStar, reflected on its 15-year evolution.
- Photo book recommendations include Hal Fischer, Sophie Rivera, and Rania Matar.
- In memoriam: Christian Bernard, Al Gury, and Hermione Carline are honored.
Entities
Artists
- Betye Saar
- Joan Mitchell
- Pablo Picasso
- Elvira Dyangani Ose
- Koyo Kouoh
- Clara Peeters
- Alan Michelson
- Nathaniel Mary Quinn
- Maori Karmael Holmes
- Hal Fischer
- Sophie Rivera
- Rania Matar
- Christian Bernard
- Al Gury
- Hermione Carline
- Lilit Martirosyan
- Nancy Spero
- Valentina Di Liscia
- Jamaica Kincaid
- Hrag Vartanian
- Lori Waxman
- Rhea Nayyar
- Lakshmi Rivera Amin
- Elodie Saint-Louis
- Chenoa Baker
Institutions
- Roberts Projects
- Joan Mitchell Foundation
- Ukraine's Ministry of Culture
- Everyone Hates Elon
- University of Pittsburgh
- Guggenheim
- Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa
- National Gallery of Art
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- National Museum of Norway
- San Diego Museum of Art
- New Museum
- National Public Housing Museum
- BlackStar Film Festival
- PAFA
- Hyperallergic
Locations
- Los Angeles
- United States
- Ukraine
- Cape Town
- South Africa
- Pittsburgh
- Sicily
- Italy
- San Diego
- New York City
- Governors Island
- Chicago
- Philadelphia
- Lebanon
- Brooklyn
- Gaza