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Described as a “handkerchief collage,” A Matter of Clarity is that and more. It consists of an almost-square green silk-based fabric that has been batiked and appliquéd. Plastic objects—thirteen small pink nail-like stems and the round, green, shiny article at the center of the flower—have been glued to the cloth. The entire composition is housed in a wooden shadow box frame covered with Plexiglas.
Almost at the center of the image is a fully open blue and pink iris, suspended above a dark cubical building that resembles a bunker. Marking the flower’s center is the green plastic bauble. From four brightly lit windows, intensely pink beacons shine into a dark landscape. Around the border in the green field are white dots and wavy strokes created by using batik. In the upper left a crescent moon with a face appears accompanied by stars in a style reminiscent of children’s book illustrations. In the lower right, one sees a stamp-like rectangle with a green hand on a pink field that may refer to a tarot card. Clinging to the border at the lower left is a pink object, possibly a flower or breast.
Metamorphosis is a theme that has pervaded most of Saar’s mature work. She gathers miscellaneous things and transforms them, as she explains, much like “a magpie, a bird that likes to collect stuff.” [1] In A Matter of Clarity the objects have been combined and altered to create a mystifying image that alludes to astrology (the moon), fertility (the flowers), protection or imprisonment (the building), and magic (the tarot card). Because the handkerchief came from her aunt, the piece also has personal associations and self-reflective undertones. Saar admits, “The more autobiographical the work becomes, the more cryptic the images. I do want to put in something autobiographical, a hand print, a shadow—something about me, so I’m there but not there.” [2]
Two artists come to mind in connection with A Matter of Clarity. The first, Joseph Cornell, was an early influence on Saar; she began to use shadow boxes after seeing his exhibition at the Pasadena Art Museum sometime during 1966 or 1967. But the impact was more than just about presentation, as she explains: “When I saw Cornell’s things, they gave me formal art approval to incorporate the images and processes of my childhood in my work.”[3] The other artist is Georgia O’Keeffe, widely recognized for her sensual representations of flowers. Like O’Keeffe, Saar benefited from, but also disassociated herself from, the feminist art movement. Saar proclaimed, “Midway through 1989 I made a decision not to be separatist by race or gender. I decided not to become involved with show that had ‘woman’ or ‘black’ in the title. What do I hope the nineties will bring? Wholistic integration—not that race and gender don’t matter anymore, but that a spiritual equality will emerge that will erase issues of race and gender.” [4]
Notes:
[1] Saar quoted in Linda Freeman, producer, and David Irving, director, Betye and Alison Saar: Conjure Women of the Arts, DVD (Chappaqua, NY: L&S Video Enterprises, 1994).
[2] Saar quoted in Lucy Lippard, “Sapphire and Ruby in the Indigo Gardens,” in Shepherd, Elizabeth, ed., The Art of Betye and Alison Saar: Secrets, Dialogues, Revelations (Los Angeles, CA: Wight Art Gallery, University of California, 1990), 16.
[3] Saar quoted in James Christen Steward, “‘Lest We Forget:’ The Liberating Art of Betye Saar,” in James Steward, et al., Betye Saar: Extending the Frozen Moment (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Museum of Art, 2005), 16.
[4] Saar quoted in “Hope for the 1990s: What Feminist Art Movement Leaders Feel Today,” Artweek (January 1990), 23, quoted in Jessica Dallow, “Reclaiming Histories: Betye and Alison Saar, Feminism, and the Representation of Black Womanhood,” Feminist Studies 30, no. 1, (Spring 2004), 87.
ProvenanceBarbara B. Millhouse, New York. [1]
Notes:
[1] Loan Agreement.
Exhibition History2005-2006
Paper, Leather, Wood: Materials and African American Art of the Twentieth Century
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (11/15/2005-4/16/2006)
2016-2018
Off the Wall: Postmodern Art at Reynolda
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (12/3/2016-6/11/2018)
2020
Private Life: Domestic and Interior Spaces in 20th Century Art
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (2/4/2020-9/27/2020)
Published References
DepartmentCollection of Barbara B. Millhouse
A Matter of Clarity
Artist
Betye Saar
(born 1926)
Date1981
MediumHandkerchief collage (batik fabric, paper, paint, plastic, glitter, ink)
DimensionsFrame: 17 5/8 x 17 3/4 in. (44.8 x 45.1 cm)
Canvas (cloth, irregular): 12 1/2 x 12 1/2 in. (31.8 x 31.8 cm)
SignedBetye Saar 1981
Credit LineCourtesy of Barbara B. Millhouse
CopyrightCourtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, California.
Object numberIL2003.1.28
Description“Mixed media” is a common label used to identify works of art made from a variety of materials and processes. However, it is generally unhelpful and provides few clues about the end product. The term is frequently attached to the art of Betye Saar who secures her supplies from myriad sources, including second-hand stores, five and dimes, trash heaps, and nature. One of her most fecund resources was a trunk given to her after the death of her great-aunt Hattie Parsons Keys in 1975. Because Keys was a collector of antique handkerchiefs, gloves, scrapbooks, family photographs, and old letters, this was a true gold mine. Thus began Saar’s Aunt Hattie Series which reflects autobiographical themes. Described as a “handkerchief collage,” A Matter of Clarity is that and more. It consists of an almost-square green silk-based fabric that has been batiked and appliquéd. Plastic objects—thirteen small pink nail-like stems and the round, green, shiny article at the center of the flower—have been glued to the cloth. The entire composition is housed in a wooden shadow box frame covered with Plexiglas.
Almost at the center of the image is a fully open blue and pink iris, suspended above a dark cubical building that resembles a bunker. Marking the flower’s center is the green plastic bauble. From four brightly lit windows, intensely pink beacons shine into a dark landscape. Around the border in the green field are white dots and wavy strokes created by using batik. In the upper left a crescent moon with a face appears accompanied by stars in a style reminiscent of children’s book illustrations. In the lower right, one sees a stamp-like rectangle with a green hand on a pink field that may refer to a tarot card. Clinging to the border at the lower left is a pink object, possibly a flower or breast.
Metamorphosis is a theme that has pervaded most of Saar’s mature work. She gathers miscellaneous things and transforms them, as she explains, much like “a magpie, a bird that likes to collect stuff.” [1] In A Matter of Clarity the objects have been combined and altered to create a mystifying image that alludes to astrology (the moon), fertility (the flowers), protection or imprisonment (the building), and magic (the tarot card). Because the handkerchief came from her aunt, the piece also has personal associations and self-reflective undertones. Saar admits, “The more autobiographical the work becomes, the more cryptic the images. I do want to put in something autobiographical, a hand print, a shadow—something about me, so I’m there but not there.” [2]
Two artists come to mind in connection with A Matter of Clarity. The first, Joseph Cornell, was an early influence on Saar; she began to use shadow boxes after seeing his exhibition at the Pasadena Art Museum sometime during 1966 or 1967. But the impact was more than just about presentation, as she explains: “When I saw Cornell’s things, they gave me formal art approval to incorporate the images and processes of my childhood in my work.”[3] The other artist is Georgia O’Keeffe, widely recognized for her sensual representations of flowers. Like O’Keeffe, Saar benefited from, but also disassociated herself from, the feminist art movement. Saar proclaimed, “Midway through 1989 I made a decision not to be separatist by race or gender. I decided not to become involved with show that had ‘woman’ or ‘black’ in the title. What do I hope the nineties will bring? Wholistic integration—not that race and gender don’t matter anymore, but that a spiritual equality will emerge that will erase issues of race and gender.” [4]
Notes:
[1] Saar quoted in Linda Freeman, producer, and David Irving, director, Betye and Alison Saar: Conjure Women of the Arts, DVD (Chappaqua, NY: L&S Video Enterprises, 1994).
[2] Saar quoted in Lucy Lippard, “Sapphire and Ruby in the Indigo Gardens,” in Shepherd, Elizabeth, ed., The Art of Betye and Alison Saar: Secrets, Dialogues, Revelations (Los Angeles, CA: Wight Art Gallery, University of California, 1990), 16.
[3] Saar quoted in James Christen Steward, “‘Lest We Forget:’ The Liberating Art of Betye Saar,” in James Steward, et al., Betye Saar: Extending the Frozen Moment (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Museum of Art, 2005), 16.
[4] Saar quoted in “Hope for the 1990s: What Feminist Art Movement Leaders Feel Today,” Artweek (January 1990), 23, quoted in Jessica Dallow, “Reclaiming Histories: Betye and Alison Saar, Feminism, and the Representation of Black Womanhood,” Feminist Studies 30, no. 1, (Spring 2004), 87.
ProvenanceBarbara B. Millhouse, New York. [1]
Notes:
[1] Loan Agreement.
Exhibition History2005-2006
Paper, Leather, Wood: Materials and African American Art of the Twentieth Century
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (11/15/2005-4/16/2006)
2016-2018
Off the Wall: Postmodern Art at Reynolda
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (12/3/2016-6/11/2018)
2020
Private Life: Domestic and Interior Spaces in 20th Century Art
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (2/4/2020-9/27/2020)
Published References
Status
On viewCollections