Mojo Rising

Exhibition Dates: August 24 to October 9, 2020

View on Ronald H. Silverman Fine Arts Gallery’s Facebook and Instagram Pages

Cal State LA’s Ronald H. Silverman Fine Arts Gallery to showcase work of renowned Los Angeles artist Betye Saar’s Mojo Rising curated by jill moniz, highlighting Betye Saar’s influence and inspiration on two generations of L.A. artists: Alison Saar, Lezley Saar, Kerry James Marshall, Sarah Perry, John Outterbridge, David Hammons, Tanya Aguiñiga, Kelly Berg, Lavialle Campbell, Kendall Carter, Carolina Caycedo, Chelsea Dean, Keiko Fukazawa, Yrneh Gabon, Todd Gray, Regina Herod, Maddy Inez Leeser, Michael Levell, Lilah Lutes, Rodney McMillian, Rosalyn Myles, Echiko Ohira, Miguel Osuna, Duane Paul, Emma Robbins, Cordellus Smith Abadachi, Lisa Diane Wedgeworth, Monica Wyatt and Brenna Youngblood.

Nearly 50 years ago, Cal State LA exhibited Betye Saar’s first survey exhibition, Betye Saar: Selected Works 1964-1973, which included Mojo Handbag (1970), Nine Mojo Secrets (1971) and Rainbow Mojo (1972), and other objects that showcased her attention on mysticism. Betye Saar is still a conjurer who uses diverse cultural iconography to ritualize recycling, investigate identity and contest how and where we find beauty. Today, with this new exhibition, moniz reflects on Saar’s ongoing legacy, specifically how her transformative visual language has made space for artists to reimagine materials in new contexts and create work centered on the poetics of time, race and gender.

Mojo Rising features Saar’s ongoing mojo focus, and local artists who are inspired by these ideas to create cultural narratives and engaging objects that challenge normalizing tropes, and reveal practices influenced by Saar’s ceaseless commitment to making, sharing, teaching and encouraging artists in Los Angeles and beyond.

Dr. jill moniz, Independent Curator, Principal, Quotidian, Los Angeles
Dr. Mika Cho, Director, Ronald H. Silverman Fine Arts Gallery

Read More About This Exhibition

Installation Images

Photo Credit: Gareth Mackay

Featured Artists

Betye Saar with Alison Saar, Lezley Saar, Kerry James Marshall, Sarah Perry, John Outterbridge, David Hammons, Tanya Aguiñiga, Kelly Berg, Lavialle Campbell, Kendall Carter, Carolina Caycedo, Chelsea Dean, Keiko Fukazawa, Yrneh Gabon, Todd Gray, Regina Herod, Maddy Inez Leeser, Michael Levell, Lilah Lutes, Rodney McMillian, Rosalyn Myles, Echiko Ohira, Miguel Osuna, Duane Paul, Emma Robbins, Cordellus Smith Abadachi, Lisa Diane Wedgeworth, Monica Wyatt and Brenna Youngblood

Betye Saar

“Lucky Mojo”, 1991

Mixed Media Collage on Textile, Courtesy of Roberts Projects Gallery, Culver City.

“Trickster (mojo)”, 1994

Mixed Media Installation, Courtesy of Roberts Projects Gallery, Culver City.

“Floating Figure with 7 Spades”, 1977

Mixed Media on Fabric, Collection of Friends, the Foundation of the California African American Museum. Gift of the Wives of the Bench and the Bar, Courtesy of the California African American Museum.

“For Rosey”, 1976

Mixed Media Collage, Collection of the California African Museum. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Leon O. Banks, Courtesy of the California African American Museum.