Ruth Asawa was a Japanese-American artist known for enchanting wire fixtures that reshaped what sculpture could be in the second half of the 20th Century. Following a recent exhibition in London, David Zwirner is showcasing a comprehensive body of work by the artist at its 20th Street location in New York.
To complement Asawa’s signature looped wire artworks, lesser-known sculptures and drawings are on view to show a full scope of her creative spirit. For Asawa, art and life were constantly in dialogue. One example of this can be seen in her San Francisco home which opened to two large redwood doors that she intricately hand-carved in a wavy pattern with her kids — harking back to her days as a student at Josef Albers‘ iconic Black Mountain College.
Although she’s principally known for her amorphous wire sculptures, curator Helen Molesworth shines a light on her equally alluring drawings and ceramic faces that depicted her beloved family members, along with other people in the San Francisco community. Many of the works have never been shown publicly, so “this exhibition aims to recast Asawa as an artist as interested in representation as she was in abstraction, as compelled by the drawn line as the sculptural form,” added Molesworth.
“Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible” is on view at David Zwirner New York until December 18.
Elsewhere, Robert Irwin illuminates Sprüth Magers Berlin.
