ADAA FAIR 2026

On view will be several works that debuted in landmark exhibitions during the early years of Saar’s practice, including Giza (1972), from Saar’s 1973 solo show at California State University, Los Angeles, and the wall assemblages Eternity (1974) and Journey to Zimbabwe (1974), which were featured in her 1975 solo show at the Whitney Museum in New York. Accompanying these works is a selection of materials sourced from Saar’s extensive personal archives: original artist statements, photographs, exhibition catalogues, press clippings and other ephemera provide historic context to both exhibitions from the 1970s.

Seen as a whole, this presentation honors Saar’s enduring legacy and sheds light on the life of a great American artist whose body of work continues to inspire present and future generations.

Betye Saar (1926–2026) was a pioneering figure in the Black Arts Movement of the mid-20th century whose practice was rooted in the personal narratives and cultural histories of the Black and African diaspora. Her formally complex and symbolically rich body of work made connections between the quotidian and the cosmic that underscored the environmental, cultural, political, racial, technological, economic and historical contexts in which it exists. In the early years of her career, Saar embraced the ritualistic process of accumulative sculpture to activate the ineffable power of her materials, which she gathered from flea markets, vintage stores and throughout her extensive travels. Her renowned mixed-media assemblages emerge from a sequence of gestures that meaningfully build upon each other, gradually transforming a series of individual parts into aesthetic objects with profound symbolic resonance.

The deeply political nature of Saar’s work reflected her own political consciousness, which was first shaped by the Civil Rights Movement and assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Like many women who were similarly moved by the events of this period, Saar adopted the feminist mantra ‘the personal is political,’ which became a fundamental principle of her fine art practice.

Roberts Projects booth is located at B1.

For additional information regarding the ADAA Fair, the please visit adaafair.org

For additional information, please contact Sage Malecki, Director at sage@robertsprojectsla.com

PRESS INQUIRIESFor press inquiries, please contact Hannah Gottlieb-Graham, ALMA Communications hannah@almacommunications.co