Alison Saar, L.A. Louver Gallery
• Born in Los Angeles, California, in 1956 • Studied dual degree in art history and studio art from Scripps College, Claremont, CA, in 1978, focusing on African-American folk art. • Master of Fine Arts degree from Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA, in 1981. • Known for: sculptor, mixed-media and installation, and printmaking • Her work focuses on the African diaspora and black female identity. • Influenced by African, Caribbean, and Latin American folk art and spirituality. • Mother is well-known African-American sculptor Betye Saar (Black Arts Movement of the 1970s)
Born in Los Angeles, California, in 1956, Alison Saar is sculptor, mixed-media and installation artist. Her work focuses on the African diaspora and black female identity and is influenced by African, Caribbean, and Latin American folk art and spirituality. She is known for transforming found objects to reflect themes of cultural and social identity, history and religion. Her mother, Betye Saar, is a well-known African-American sculptor and installation artist and her father is an art conservator. Betye Saar was involved in the 1970s Black Arts Movement. Influences in Alison Saar’s work were sparked from her early exposure to museums, nature, folk art, caring from artifacts from different cultures, and creating beauty from discarded items. In addition to their distinguished separate careers, mother and daughter have collaborated on several projects with their shared fascination with mysticism, found objects, and the spiritual potential of art.
Alison Saar earned a dual degree in art history and studio art from Scripps College, Claremont, CA, in 1978, focusing on African-American folk art. She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA, in 1981. Working in metal sculpture, wood, fresco, woodblock print and using found objects, Saar’s work is often autobiographical and references both African culture and the human body. Her multi-ethnic upbringing, multi-racial identity and her studies of Latin American, Caribbean and African art and religion informs her work with a high degree of cultural subtext. In 1983, Saar became an artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem, incorporating found objects from the city environment. She completed another residency in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1985, which augmented her urban style with Southwest Native American and Mexican influences.
Saar's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in museums, biennials, galleries, and public art venues. Her work has been exhibited internationally with key exhibitions at the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Pasadena Museum of California Art, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, and in the White House Garden at The White House, Washington, D.C., among many others. She was included in the 1993 Whitney Biennial held at the Whitney Museum of American Art, a pinnacle exhibition known for its critical tone and content.