Exhibition: Alison Saar "Breach"

 With water imagery woven throughout, Breach is the culmination of artist Alison Saar’s creative research into American rivers and their historical relationship to the lives of African Americans.

The Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927 piqued her interest. Described as one of the worst natural river disasters in U.S. history, many months of heavy rains resulted in the river breaching levees in spring 1927. Though few now know about this historic catastrophe the flood had a profound impact on the life of African Americans living in the Mississippi Delta and brought long-term social, cultural, federal policy, and political changes to the U.S. 

Saar, selected as the 2016-17 Richard A. and Rissa W. Grossman Artist in Residence, explores issues of gender, race, racism, and the African diaspora. She mines mythology, ritual, history, music, and her biracial heritage as sources for her work.