Betye Saar: Serious Moonlight

Author: Stephanie Seidel (Editor), Leah Ollman (Interviewer), Betye Saar (Artist), Alex Gartenfeld (Foreword), Sampada Aranke (Contributor), Edwidge Danticat (Contributor)
Publisher: DelMonico Books/Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami
Year: 2022
Pages: 206
ISBN: 978-1636810362

Betye Saar: Serious Moonlight examines rarely seen installations by pioneering artist Betye Saar. These works are the magnificent yet relatively unknown counterparts to her famed assemblages—expanded into space and providing immersive experiences that actively incorporate audiences through ritual and community. Betye Saar: Serious Moonlight surveys the artist’s most significant installations from 1977 to the present day, including Oasis (1984), a work reconfigured for the first time in more than thirty years.

With texts by Sampada Aranke, Edwidge Danticat, and Stephanie Seidel, an interview with the artist by Leah Ollman, as well as rich illustrations—combining installation photography and never-before-published materials from the artist’s archive—this monograph provides a novel look at the renowned artist’s critical and influential practice. This publication celebrates Saar’s standing as a visionary artist, storyteller, and mythmaker, and speaks to the ongoing significance of her work to the most pressing issues today.