Family Legacies: The Art of Betye, Lezley, and Alison Saar

Text by Jessica Dallow, Barbara Matilsky.Family Legacies celebrates the remarkable art of Betye Saar and her daughters, Lezley and Alison Saar. It explores the sharing of artistic and spiritual traditions within a family and shows how two generations of women use art to express changing ideas about gender, race, and ethnicity. Looking at the formal and thematic parallels in this family’s work reveals a fascinating glimpse into their creative dynamic. Each artist’s response to contemporary social issues -- identity, sexuality, spirituality, the female body, and stereotypes * emerges through her strikingly beautiful creations.During the 1960s and 1970s, Betye Saar became an established artist in Los Angeles. Her autobiographical and political assemblages during this period affirmed the important role played by women, African Americans, and the artworks they created in defining contemporary culture. Lezley and Alison built upon the direction forged by their mother, with assemblages and sc