A secretary to the spirits

In 1971, Los Angeles-based assemblage artist Betye Saar met author and activist Ishmael Reed at the opening of a Romare Bearden exhibition at the Berkeley Art Museum. Four years later, Reed commissioned Saar to illustrate his book of poems, A Secretary to the Spirits. The six collages that Betye Saar made in response to Reed’s poems reproduced in this book illustrate her range of subject and medium—from the Cream of Wheat man commenting on commoditization and derogatory stereotypes; to vivid fabrics reflecting Saar's lifelong tradition of keeping material swatches; to collages and rubber stamps depicting stars, moons, and palmistry charts reflecting her deep engagement with mysticism. They also reflect Reed’s poetry, which explores the spiritual as well as mundane, and ancient and contemporary.