HooDoo #19

HooDoo #19

This double-sided work exemplifies both Saar’s assemblage practice and her interest in the mystical. Her title references Hoodoo, a syncretic belief system (synthesis of varying religions) practiced by the African Diaspora in the southern U.S. On one side, an African American man in a striped suit and dotted tie, with a cane and pork pie hat is centered in a red frame decorated with stars, crosses, and other icons. He is framed by two plastic swords, a cigar, and another suited man much smaller in scale. On its reverse, a frame dotted with a collection of found objects such as buttons and buckles surrounds a black field onto which Saar marks Hoodoo icons in white crayon. The symmetrical symbols and diagrams drawn on the back of the framed suited man place him in relation to a belief system with ancient roots. Miniature watches and blue eyes on the frame reference the importance of time and vision, further invoking Saar's themes of ancestry and mysticism. As in many of Saar’s assemblages, the inclusion of a dual-sided frame (or window) creates a threshold where Saar invites the viewer to recall the past and imagine the future.

Betye Saar

1992

Mixed media assemblage

Collection of the Petrucci Family Foundation