The retrospective exhibition Mirror Mirror: The Prints of Alison Saar features over 30 prints and six sculptures to showcase Alison Saar’s extraordinary 35-year career as a printmaker. Consistent with Saar’s sculptures that often incorporate found objects, the artist’s vibrant graphic work centers upon a strong, single female figure portrayed in a manner reminiscent of African deities and woodcarvings to address racial identity and related issues of gender, heritage and spirituality. Employing a visual strategy informed by her sculptural practice, Saar’s unconventional printmaking approach combines historical references and methods offered by her materials in association with every day, personal experience. These highly inventive images that combine larger, collective narratives including African art and ritual, Greek mythology and the sculptural tradition of German Expressionism with individual memories exemplifies how Saar’s rich artistic practice across media challenges cultural and historic references and stereotypes.

Sponsors

Mirror, Mirror: The Prints of Alison Saar is sponsored by 2020 Exhibition Program Sponsor ProMedica with additional support from the Ohio Arts Council.