Alison saar artist biography

View the full Getty record. Alison Saar Rise Alison Saar Fall Alison Saar Untitled Alison Saar Conked Alison Saar Sweeping Beauty In particular, her mother's interests in mysticism, ritual, and the occult, as well as African and black diasporic artistic practices, have been central to the direction of Saar's art. In addition her father, Richard Saar, in his work as a conservator, brought her into contact with arts and artifacts from all over the globe, including Chinese frescoes, Egyptian mummies, and pre-Columbian and African art.

In fact, it was an apprenticeship with her father that led to her sculpting — she learned to carve in order to restore art. In addition, her interest in African influences on the art of the black diaspora parallels the work of the art historian Robert Farris Thompson, and she acknowledges his research as a source of inspiration.

Alison saar artist biography: Born in Saar credits

Since the creation of her first mixed-media sculpture inSaar has consistently grappled visually with black diasporic history and culture. This carved figurative sculpture depicts a young black boy seated in a bright red chair. Suggesting the horror of Baker's lament, the artist portrays the boy with an open chest filled with shards of glass.

Drawing from black diasporic practices, this filled cavity evokes figurative Kongo minkisi sing. Similarly, the boy's legs are made of cement and embedded with fragments of blue and white tile.

Alison saar artist biography: Alison Saar is a

Glass and tile have both been found at Kongo-inspired gravesites and yards in the United Statesand both materials are also "found objects," typical of the materials used by the black folk artists Saar admires. While conducting research for her undergraduate thesis, Saar came to admire the way informally trained artists. This admiration is evident in her art.

Working with found materials such as old floor beams, pressed ceiling tin, rusty nails, iron skillets, linoleum sheeting, and broken glass, Saar recycles and reuses discarded objects for their evocative power and energy. By using previously used objects to explore vital themes of ritual, myth, magic, mystery, and healing, Alison Saar creates artwork powerfully infused with themes of the black diaspora.

Alison saar artist biography: Alison Saar's sculptures and

Saar has received numerous awards, including grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. Collins, Lisa Gail. Shepherd, Elizabeth, ed. Collins, Lisa " Saar, Alison. Collins, Lisa "Saar, Alison. Saar, Alison — gale. Learn more about citation styles Citation styles Encyclopedia. Saar, Alison gale.

Alison saar artist biography: Alison Saar (born February

While conducting research for her undergraduate thesis, Saar came to admire the way informally trained artists often work with abandoned materials. OCLC Phyllis Kind Gallery. Retrieved March 14, The Art of Betye and Alison Saar. Secrets, Dialogues, Revelations. ISBN BOMB Magazine. Retrieved May 2, Women artists of color: a bio-critical sourcebook of 20th century artists in the Americas.

ISSN Retrieved April 19, Hyperallergic Media Inc. Retrieved March 11, Retrieved March 7, Los Angeles Times. September 27, Retrieved May 8, Body politics : the female image in Luba art and the sculpture of Alison Saar. Saar, Alison. Fowler Museum of Cultural History. Los Angeles, Calif. Riot Material. Retrieved March 20, Retrieved May 7, Woman's Art Journal.

Journal of African American Studies. Retrieved April 15, Archived from the original on April 2, Retrieved March 6, Artnet News. As a practicing artist in the s, Saar often experimented with sculpture and mixed media. Her residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem in provided Saar the opportunity to expand her practice as she came to incorporate found material into her installations, assemblages, and sculptures.