Betye Saar at Kunstmuseum Luzern

The American artist Betye Saar (*1926, Los Angeles) speaks about spirituality, feminism, and Black Identity in installations, assemblages, and collages that are atmospherically dense and politically connoted. For the first time, Swiss viewers now have the possibility to experience Betye Saar’s intimate, mystical works in a comprehensive solo exhibition entitled Serious Moonlight. The exhibition consists of important installations dating from the 1980s and 1990s, many of which are being exhibited again for the first time in decades. In addition to the installation works, mythological silkscreen prints and etchings dating from the 1960s underscore Betye Saar’s great importance as an adept graphic artist of the Black Feminism movement.

Given its table, scattered Tarot cards, silk banners, and magic symbols, House of Fortune, 1988, recalls a séance. The puzzling anthropomorphic Trickster, 1994, is understood in Caribbean religions as a kind of divine messenger who mediates between humans and gods. A crackling flash of lightning manifests his power and urges caution. In the form of an altarpiece, Wings of Morning, 1987-92, is conceived as a place for commemorating the dead which highlights the transition from life to death. Viewers are invited to remember loved ones by leaving photographs, flowers, and other memorabilia on the plinth of the sculpture.

The work Mojotech, 1987, deals with the so-called “mojo”, with supernatural powers that can dwell in objects. It also regards technology as a contemporary magical element in everyday life. The installation Shadow Song, 1988, consists of silhouettes which the artist did on silk and which hover in the room. Oasis, 1984, a literal oasis complete with sand and glass balls and an invitation to us to contemplate, is being shown again in this exhibition for the first time since 1988.

A recurring theme in Betye Saar’s installations is the British slave ship Brookes. It turns up in miniature in Brides of Bondage, 1998, and is at the core of Gliding into Midnight, 2019. Both works refer to the layout of the Brookes, which transported slaves from Africa to the Caribbean under horrific conditions and which the artist uses as a historical symbol in many of her works.

The documentary film Spirit Catcher. The Art of Betye Saar by Suzanne E. Bauman (1977) will be shown in the exhibition. Through it, viewers will experience how Betye Saar’s oeuvre combines a fascination with the mystical and her social concerns. Betye Saar lives and works in Los Angeles. Whereas the artist is a major figure in contemporary art in the United States, in Europe she has so far been shown only very rarely.