Betye Saar created her first recognized piece when she was 46 years old. Her work responds to themes of racism and identity. Her own heritage is African American, Irish American, and Native American. Betye’s medium is collage, sometimes more on the two dimensional side, and other times three dimensional and very sculptural. In her collages, Betye often uses negative stereotypes, such as Aunt Jamima and Mammie, and re-presents them as figures to empower, figures that call for action. These works were especially powerful in their first appearance, following the LA riots and police brutality in 1965 sparked by intense fear of the Nation of Islam. The use of these stereotypes has recently re-emerged in response to reactions to artists like Kara Walker, whose disturbing and confrontational images have caused many to question, what is art? Are ways to present sensitive topics in art that are okay, and ways that are not? Betye’s art is empowering to both blacks and women, calling for them to take the stereotypes that are imposed upon them and find strength in these. Betye also works with photographs of her family and of people she doesn’t know from history in order to work through and issues of her own identity, citing frequently the “one-drop rule” which labels her as black, despite her intensely mixed heritage. Many of her pieces also use astrological and occult symbols, reflecting their influence on her understanding of herself.
“And, more importantly, by arming her figures, the artist called for the redress of current race relations through militant action, in contrast to the nonviolent legislative approach taken by the contemporary civil rights movement.”
“her intent ‘was to transform a negative, demeaning figure into a positive, empowered woman who stands confrontationally… a warrior ready to combat servitude and racism.”
“confronting people with any time of stereotypic imagery helps to explode the historically damaging myths by releasing them and their effects from the ‘collective unconscious.’”
question-
What do you think the difference is between reclaiming a negative image or stereotype and perpetuating it? Do you think Betye Saar reclaims or perpetuates? Why?
2 comments:
The line between perpetuating a stereotype and reclaiming it can be a blurry one, as we have seen and discussed in other artists work so far this semester. To answer Alex’s question, I think that Betye Saar’s work “reclaims” the stereotype and thus forces the viewer to think about the work further than its negative connotations. Knowing that the artist is an African American woman as well as understanding the context behind her work makes me understand the work more. With that said I don’t think that the viewer needs to know about the artist to understand what the work is trying to convey. Perhaps it is just me but I don’t think that Saar is perpetuating the stereotype in her work at all. Probably because of the weapons and the collaged imagery of family members and what appears to be a clear mocking of Sambo.
I really love the idea of confronting the audience with stereotypic imagery to blatantly show that it is a part of the 'collective consciousness.' I think what she means by collective consciousness is to state that stereotypes are psychologically rooted into society: stereotypes pass on through generations whether we are aware or not. The meaning derived from stereotypic imagery depends on context. This same imagery presented to a young child/blank slate would produce little meaning, and perhaps perpetuate the stereotypes. This imagery presented a century ago compared with the work in our cultural climate now means something entirely different. In our current cultural climate, Saar has the ability to show how absolutely unfounded stereotypes are by reclaiming this stereotypic imagery.
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