The Easel

29th October 2019

Inside LA icon Betye Saar’s Laurel Canyon studio

Joseph Cornell made his acclaimed assemblages from junk shop stuff. On seeing this work, Saar determined to do the same. In 1969 she made Black Girl’s Window, various images arranged inside an old window frame. A window frame? “That’s the protection for what’s inside.” Besides bringing her national attention, this work now seems a career signpost, “rescuing the black female figure from her destiny of abasement.”