LEZLEY SAAR
White Are You?
Date: 2003
Dimensions: 17” x 14” x 3”
Medium: Mixed media
Condition: Overall very good
Provenance:
– Janice and Richard Baum, Los Angeles, CA
The housing for this artwork is a physical yearbook from the class of 1938 at the University of Oregon at Eugene. The front and back covers feature a sea of white men (boys) frolicking in the water. Cut out from the center, the heart of the yearbook, is a piece of assemblage. In line with the practice of Lezley Saar and her lineage, the placed object is a painted mirror of a man and woman, in traditional colonial gown attire, with dark skin. The mirror is abraded and cracked. The artist portrays a strong commentary on society, race, knowledge and contradiction.