Betye Saar's Early Costume Design and Assemblage Roots Explored at Roberts Projects
In celebration of her centennial, Roberts Projects in Los Angeles presented "Let's Get It On: The Wearable Art of Betye Saar," an exhibition featuring the early professional creations of the late assemblage artist, who passed away last month at 99. This showcase includes over 200 archival items, emphasizing a lesser-known aspect of Saar's work: costume design. Among the exhibits are her costume and set designs for a 1970 staging of Antigone at the Inner City Cultural Center (ICCC) in Los Angeles. Saar described her love for materials during a press walkthrough, noting that this project marked her initial exploration into collage. The exhibition also displays domestic pieces created for her daughters—Lezley, Alison, and Tracye—and outfits for the Renaissance Pleasure Faire, alongside sketches and fabric samples.
Key facts
- Exhibition: "Let's Get It On: The Wearable Art of Betye Saar" at Roberts Projects, Los Angeles
- Organized on the occasion of Saar's 100th birthday
- Saar died last month at age 99
- Over 200 archival objects on view
- Includes costume and set designs for 1970 production of Antigone at Inner City Cultural Center (ICCC)
- Saar's first collage work was wallpaper for Antigone
- Features domestic creations for daughters Lezley, Alison, and Tracye
- Includes outfits for Renaissance Pleasure Faire
- Saar quote: "I just love materials"
- Saar quote: "This was one of the first times I really got to play with that sort of collage work long before I knew what assemblage was."
- Saar often scaled down stage work to sell in gift shops
- Reference to assemblage "Black Girl's Window" (1969)
Entities
Artists
- Betye Saar
- Lezley Saar
- Alison Saar
- Tracye Saar
- Joseph Cornell
- Simon Rodia
- Curtis Tann
- Richard Saar
- Alonzo Davis
- Len Chandler
- Bennie Maupin
- Ishmael Reed
- Gordon Parks Jr.
- Rachel Rosenthal
- George Takei
- Carmen de Lavallade
- Robert Ito
- Nobu McCarthy
- Edward James Olmos
- Forest Whitaker
- Marquette Frye
- Tyler Mitchell
- Christina Nielsen
- Julie Roberts
- Tracye Saar-Cavanaugh
- Marguerite Ray
- Olga Adderley Chandler
- Virginia Wing
- Lee Clark Champion
- Ruth Warshawsky
- Antoneka Howard
- Nadyne Turney
- Elizabeth Keeney
Institutions
- Roberts Projects
- Inner City Cultural Center
- Renaissance Pleasure Faire
- Hyperallergic
- Ford Foundation
- UCLA
- New York Historical Society
- Pasadena Art Museum
- Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
- Museum of Modern Art
- Whitney Museum of American Art
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Pasadena City College
- California State University, Long Beach
- House of Fabrics
- Home Silk Shop
- Butterick
- Simplicity
- LACMA
Locations
- Los Angeles
- United States
- Laurel Canyon
- Watts
- Pasadena
- California
- New York City
- New York