Ruth Asawa Takes Center Stage in MoMA’s Biggest Show by a Female Artist

Member Previews, Oct 16–18
Oct 19, 2025–Feb 7, 2026
MoMA

“I’m not so interested in the expression of something. I’m more interested in what the material can do. So that’s why I keep exploring,” said artist, educator, and civic leader Ruth Asawa.

Ruth Aiko Asawa was an American modernist artist known primarily for her abstract looped-wire sculptures inspired by natural and organic forms.
Born: January 24, 1926, Norwalk, CA
Died: August 5, 2013 (age 87 years), San Francisco, CA
Wikipedia

Ruth Asawa’s art activism was deeply rooted in her belief that creativity could transform individuals and communities alike. A Japanese American artist who endured incarceration during World War II, Asawa understood firsthand the power of art as a tool for resilience and social change. Beyond her celebrated wire sculptures, she devoted much of her life to arts education and accessibility. In San Francisco, she co-founded the Alvarado Arts Workshop in the 1960s, pioneering a model that integrated professional artists into public schools to teach children the value of creative expression. Her advocacy eventually led to the establishment of the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, a public high school dedicated to nurturing young artists. Through her activism, Asawa championed the idea that art is not a privilege but a vital part of civic life — a belief that continues to inspire educators, artists, and communities across generations.

The exhibition “Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective” is not merely a survey of an influential artist’s work; it is a profound celebration of a life dedicated to the tireless exploration of material and form. Featuring some 300 works, this first major posthumous assessment charts the six-decade career of Ruth Asawa (artist, educator, and civic leader), whose philosophy was beautifully encapsulated in her own words: “I’m more interested in what the material can do.”

Transforming the Simple into the Sublime

Asawa’s enduring legacy rests on her ability to transform the humble and the everyday—most famously, the wire—into subjects of complex contemplation. Since her formative years studying at Black Mountain College in the late 1940s, Asawa pursued the “inexhaustible possibilities” offered by simple mediums.

The exhibition provides an expansive view of her practice, ranging from:

• Wire Sculpture: The iconic, abstract looped-wire sculptures that seem to float in space, endlessly varying in their form and structure.
• Two-Dimensional Works: Calligraphic ink paintings, drawings, prints, and bronze casts.
• Public Works: Documentation of the numerous fountains, murals, and memorials she realized from the late 1960s onward.

The works continually challenge traditional art historical boundaries, unsettling distinctions between abstraction and figuration, figure and ground, and negative and positive space. Asawa didn’t just fill space; she defined it using absence and light.

Art, Life, and Community

Crucial to understanding Asawa’s work is recognizing the integrated model of art practice she cultivated. For Asawa, “there was no separation between living and making art”—she made art every day. The exhibition takes a cue from this holistic approach, offering numerous points of entry and encouraging “close looking.”

Furthermore, the retrospective underscores Asawa’s deep commitment to community. She was a tireless advocate, standing at the forefront of arts education in the Bay Area and beyond, and dedicating herself to public commissions that enriched civic life.

Organized as a partnership between the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) and The Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA), “Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective” is an essential showing. It reaffirms Asawa’s status not just as a sculptor, but as a visionary who saw creative potential in all acts and who used the simplest of means to reflect the complexity of existence.

Ruth Asawa Art:
Black Mountain Work
Sculpture
Works on Paper
Public Commissions

From moma.org

Asawa made art every day, pursuing the inexhaustible possibilities offered by simple materials such as paper and wire since her days at Black Mountain College, where she studied in the late 1940s. Following a move to San Francisco in 1949, her practice grew exponentially as she produced a body of work ranging from endless variations of abstract looped-wire sculptures to calligraphic ink paintings.

Community was crucial to Asawa, who realized numerous public commissions—fountains, murals, and memorials—from the late 1960s onward, and stood at the forefront of arts education in the Bay Area and beyond. Taking a cue from her own work, Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective offers numerous points of entry into her art, encouraging close looking. It also reveals the model of integrated art practice cultivated by Asawa, for whom all acts held a creative potential and for whom there was no separation between living and making art.

Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective is an exhibition partnership between the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) and The Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA). The exhibition is organized by Cara Manes, Associate Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, MoMA, and Janet Bishop, Thomas Weisel Family Chief Curator, SFMOMA; with Dominika Tylcz, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture, MoMA; and Marin Sarvé-Tarr, Assistant Curator, and William Hernández Luege, former Curatorial Associate, Painting and Sculpture, SFMOMA.