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
Alison Saar
"Thistle and Twitch", 2013
Mixed Media (Paper, Glue, Acrylics and Copper & Found Brambles), Courtesy of L.A. Louver Gallery, Los Angeles
"Thistle and Twitch", 2013
Mixed Media (Paper, Glue, Acrylics and Copper & Found Brambles), Courtesy of L.A. Louver Gallery, Los Angeles
Lezley Saar
Lezley Saar, "Paonne" 2019, Mixed Media, Courtesy of Walter Maciel Gallery, Los Angeles
Lezley Saar, "Reuel" 2019, Mixed Media, Courtesy of Walter Maciel Gallery, Los Angeles
Kerry James Marshall
Kerry James Marshall, "Revolution Dinner Plates" 1998, Ceramic Plates, Collection Lyndon & Janine Barrois
David Hammons
David Hammons, Hardcore Unemployed, 1968, Body Print, Courtesy of the California African American Museum
John Outterbridge
John Outterbridge, "22 Rhymes" 1998, Mixed Media Installation, Courtesy of the California African American Museum
Sarah Perry
Sarah Perry, "Twister" 2005, Bones in Glass and Bronze, Collection of Laura Lee Stearns
Tanya Aguiñiga
Tanya Aguiñiga, "Feminine Occult" 2018, Mixed Media Assemblage, Courtesy of Volume Gallery, Chicago
Kelly Berg
Kelly Berg, "Triangulation" 2020, Acrylic on Canvas, Courtesy of Craig Krull Gallery, Los Angeles
Lavialle Campbell
Lavialle Campbell, "Meditation 1" 2020, Cotton and Felted Wool, Courtesy of the Artist
Kendall Carter
Kendell Carter, "Cranes for Solange" 2017, Mixed Media Assemblage, Courtesy of the California African American Museum
Carolina Caycedo
Carolina Caycedo, "The Leap/El salto" 2017, Mixed Media Collage, Courtesy of the Artist and Commonwealth and Council Gallery, Los Angeles
Carolina Caycedo, "Vocabulary Infrastructure/Vocabulario e infrastructura (after the Distance Plan)" 2017, Marker on 10 Banknotes, Courtesy of the Artist and Commonwealth and Council Gallery, Los Angeles
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
Cordellus Smith Abadachi, "Spirit Box" 2016, Ceramic, Courtesy of the Artist
Lisa Diane Wedgeworth
Lisa Diane Wedgeworth, "Hex Be Gone" 2020, Acrylic on Canvas, Courtesy of the Artist
Monica Wyatt
Monica Wyatt, "Hanging by a Moment" 2020, Mixed Media, Courtesy of the Artist
Brenna Youngblood
Brenna Youngblood, "Mega Diamond" 2011, Mixed Media, Courtesy of Honor Fraser Gallery, Los Angeles
