Exhibition
Ruth Asawa: Shapes and Shadows
–Press Release
Ruth Asawa transforms inert materials into dynamic physical constructs, co-opting paper, wire, clay, concrete, fiber, steel, and bronze to express her extraordinary vision. Her graceful biomorphic forms engage in a play with light creating shadow configurations which extend the range of each work from sculpture to environment or installation. Her sculptures and her career trajectory have been compared with those of Lee Bontecou and her artistic influence continues to be seen today in this selection of works from the early 50s and 60s.
Asawa was born in 1926 in Norwalk, California, and lives in San Francisco. Following her internment in Arkansas during WWII Asawa attended Black Mountain College where she studied with Josef Albers and Buckminster Fuller from 1946-49. As well as being a practicing artist, Asawa was instrumental in developing art education in San Francisco. Her work is included in important private and public collections nationally and in 2006 received recognition in the form of a major retrospective at San Francisco's de Young Museum (which traveled to the Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, California).
Ruth Asawa transforms inert materials into dynamic physical constructs, co-opting paper, wire, clay, concrete, fiber, steel, and bronze to express her extraordinary vision. Her graceful biomorphic forms engage in a play with light creating shadow configurations which extend the range of each work from sculpture to environment or installation. Her sculptures and her career trajectory have been compared with those of Lee Bontecou and her artistic influence continues to be seen today in this selection of works from the early 50s and 60s.
Asawa was born in 1926 in Norwalk, California, and lives in San Francisco. Following her internment in Arkansas during WWII Asawa attended Black Mountain College where she studied with Josef Albers and Buckminster Fuller from 1946-49. As well as being a practicing artist, Asawa was instrumental in developing art education in San Francisco. Her work is included in important private and public collections nationally and in 2006 received recognition in the form of a major retrospective at San Francisco's de Young Museum (which traveled to the Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, California).
Ruth Asawa transforms inert materials into dynamic physical constructs, co-opting paper, wire, clay, concrete, fiber, steel, and bronze to express her extraordinary vision. Her graceful biomorphic forms engage in a play with light creating shadow configurations which extend the range of each work from sculpture to environment or installation. Her sculptures and her career trajectory have been compared with those of Lee Bontecou and her artistic influence continues to be seen today in this selection of works from the early 50s and 60s.
Asawa was born in 1926 in Norwalk, California, and lives in San Francisco. Following her internment in Arkansas during WWII Asawa attended Black Mountain College where she studied with Josef Albers and Buckminster Fuller from 1946-49. As well as being a practicing artist, Asawa was instrumental in developing art education in San Francisco. Her work is included in important private and public collections nationally and in 2006 received recognition in the form of a major retrospective at San Francisco's de Young Museum (which traveled to the Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, California).