“Mojo Rising”
Curated by
Dr. Jill Moniz, Independent Curator
Dr. Mika Cho, Director, Ronald H. Silverman Fine Arts Gallery
August 24 to October 9, 2020
Ronald H. Silverman Fine Arts Gallery

Featured Artists

Betye Saar with Alison Saar, Lezley Saar, Kerry James Marshall, Sarah Perry, John Outterbridge, David Hammons, Tanya Aguiñiga, Kelly Berg, Lavialle Campbell, Kendall Carter, Carolina Caycedo, Chelsea Dean, Keiko Fukazawa, Yrneh Gabon, Todd Gray, Regina Herod, Maddy Inez Leeser, Michael Levell, Lilah Lutes, Rodney McMillian, Rosalyn Myles, Echiko Ohira, Miguel Osuna, Duane Paul, Emma Robbins, Cordellus Smith Abadachi, Lisa Diane Wedgeworth, Monica Wyatt and Brenna Youngblood

Ronald H. Silverman Fine Arts Gallery to showcase work of renowned Los Angeles artist Betye Saar’s Mojo Rising curated by Mika Cho and Jill Moniz, highlighting Betye Saar’s influence and inspiration on two generations of L.A. artists. Nearly 50 years ago, Cal State LA exhibited Betye Saar’s first survey exhibition, Betye Saar: Selected Works 1964-1973, which included Mojo Handbag (1970), Nine Mojo Secrets (1971) and Rainbow Mojo (1972), and other objects that showcased her attention on mysticism. Betye Saar is still a conjurer who uses diverse cultural iconography to ritualize recycling, investigate identity and contest how and where we find beauty. This new exhibition reflects on Saar’s ongoing legacy, specifically how her transformative visual language has made space for artists to reimagine materials in new contexts and create work centered on the poetics of time, race and gender.

Mojo Rising features Saar’s ongoing mojo focus, and local artists who are inspired by these ideas to create cultural narratives and engaging objects that challenge normalizing tropes, and reveal practices influenced by Saar’s ceaseless commitment to making, sharing, teaching and encouraging artists in Los Angeles and beyond.

Installation photcredit Gareth Mackay