Visitors entering the gallery housing Betye Saar's "Drifting Toward Twilight" are immediately transported into an otherworldly environment bathed in oceanic, cobalt blue light. The immersive installation, which opened at the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art at the Huntington in 2023, creates such a compelling atmosphere that visitors report feeling as if the temperature has dropped and gravity works differently in the space.
The centerpiece of this site-specific commission is a magnificent 17-foot canoe positioned atop a carefully arranged bed of branches, bramble, and sheets of jagged wood in the center of the room. Watchful eyes guide the vessel at both ends, while two sentinel figures—antiques adorned with antlers—stand guard at either tip of the ship. The boat itself houses an eclectic collection of bird cages containing animal antlers, all seated upon miniature chairs that appear sized for toddlers or perhaps spirits who barely require physical seating.
"I like combining manufactured objects with natural objects," explains the 98-year-old artist in a video presentation displayed at the back of the gallery. Saar's distinctive approach to found object assemblage involves hunting for materials both in nature and at flea markets, a practice she began in early childhood around age four or five. However, it was the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. that served as a catalyzing moment in her artistic career, overwhelming her with emotion that could only be expressed through creating art.
This emotional catalyst led Saar to create one of her most celebrated works, "The Liberation of Aunt Jemima" (1972), which transformed and empowered a mammy figurine by equipping it with defensive weaponry. The piece exemplifies her ability to reclaim and recontextualize problematic historical imagery, a theme that runs throughout her extensive body of work.
The Huntington Gardens location holds special significance for Saar, a renowned Los Angeles artist who was actually raised in neighboring Pasadena. In a short film directed by Kyle Provencio Reingold, viewers follow the artist through the massive campus where she first wandered at age 12 or 13 alongside her mother and a neighbor. The documentary captures her evident joy as she instructs Huntington employees about her artistic vision, her voice filled with giddiness as she recalls childhood memories of traversing the grounds and selecting fallen branches and trimmings.
"Even in death, those things can be really beautiful," Saar reflects in the film, highlighting her philosophy of finding beauty and meaning in discarded or overlooked objects. This perspective permeates the entire "Drifting Toward Twilight" installation, where natural and manufactured elements combine to create something entirely new and transcendent.
The gallery's sophisticated lighting system gradually shifts from daylight to dusk as time progresses, enhancing the immersive quality of the experience. The installation functions as an encapsulated, self-sustaining environment reminiscent of a natural history museum exhibit but with a distinctly surrealistic twist. The atmospheric buzz of neon lights provides a subtle soundtrack to the visual journey.
Phases of the moon are painted on the walls in matte metallic silver, while a small poem by Saar stretches across the space: "The moon keeps vigil as a lone canoe drifts into a sea of tranquility seeking serenity in the twilight." These textual and visual elements work together to create a narrative that invites contemplation about journey, transition, and the search for peace.
Visitors consistently describe the experience as simultaneously relaxing and disorienting, as if they have been transported into a misty and peculiar parallel world. The sensation of sinking, descending, and drifting into twilight becomes palpable within the carefully crafted environment, demonstrating Saar's mastery in creating spaces that engage both the conscious and subconscious mind.
"Betye Saar: Drifting Toward Twilight" continues at the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art at the Huntington, located at 1151 Oxford Road in San Marino, California, through November 30, 2027. The exhibition was curated by Yinshi Lerman-Tan and Sola Saar Agustsson, representing a significant addition to the Huntington's contemporary art programming and a homecoming of sorts for the celebrated artist.
