{"id":311712,"date":"2025-10-17T21:23:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T21:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/311712\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T21:23:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T21:23:28","slug":"ruth-asawa-arrives-in-new-york-with-a-monumental-retrospective-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/311712\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruth Asawa Arrives in New York with a Monumental Retrospective \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most iconic figures of the mid-20th century, trailblazing Japanese-American artist <a href=\"https:\/\/ruthasawa.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ruth Asawa<\/a> led a prolific life of art-making, advocacy, and civic engagement. Over a decade after her passing, the last year has ushered in a momentous wave of exhibitions for Asawa\u2014appearing at David Zwirner in her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/2025\/01\/ruth-asawa-doing-is-living\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first solo exhibition in Greater China<\/a>, followed by two major showings of Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective.<\/p>\n<p>In a tale of two MoMAs, the enormous exhibition recently traveled from its point of origin in San Francisco, where the artist fostered a deep, lifelong connection to the city. Its arrival in New York City now marks the largest show dedicated to a woman artist in the museum\u2019s history. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"945\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/asawa-1-960x945.jpg\" alt=\"a portrait of Ruth Asawa at the San Francisco museum of art in 1973\" class=\"wp-image-463930\"  \/>Photograph by Laurence Cuneo. \u00a9 2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc., courtesy of David Zwirner<\/p>\n<p>Featuring more than 300 of Asawa\u2019s artworks spread across a whopping 16,000 square feet, the expansive collection documents the artist\u2019s six-decade-long career. You can expect to get a close look at her groundbreaking wire sculptures, intimate paintings, drawings, and prints, as well as bronze casts and monumental public works.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/press.moma.org\/exhibition\/asawa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective<\/a> opens at the Museum of Modern Art on October 19, where it will be on view until February 7, 2026. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/tags\/ruth-asawa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Explore more<\/a> from Asawa on Colossal, and delve further into her practice through her estate\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/ruthasawa.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/asawa-13-960x720.jpeg\" alt=\"installation view of 'Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective' at the Museum of Modern Art\" class=\"wp-image-463935\"  \/>Installation view of \u2018Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective.\u2019 Photo by Jonathan Dorado, \u00a9 2025 The Museum of Modern Art, New York<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"1380\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/asawa-9-960x1380.jpg\" alt=\"a lithograph by Ruth Asawa of a reddish pink peony against a background of dark blue\" class=\"wp-image-463932\"  \/>\u201cPoppy\u201d (1965), lithograph, 30 1\u221516 \u00d7 20 9\u221516 inches, edition of 20. Image \u00a9 2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc., courtesy of David Zwirner<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"1440\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/asawa-8-960x1440.jpg\" alt=\"a long, hanging wiry bulbous sculpture by Ruth Asawa\" class=\"wp-image-463933\"  \/>\u201cUntitled (S.398, Hanging Eight-Lobed, Four-Part, Discontinuous Surface Form within a Form with Spheres in the Seventh and Eighth Lobes)\u201d (1955), brass wire, iron wire, and galvanized iron wire, 8 feet 8 1\/2 inches \u00d7 14 1\/2 \u00d7 14 1\/2 inches. Image \u00a9 2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc., courtesy of David Zwirner<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"753\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/asawa-7-960x753.jpg\" alt=\"a densely stamped work from Ruth Asawa creating texture on paper, made from the letters B, M, and C.\" class=\"wp-image-463934\"  \/>\u201cUntitled (BMC.145, BMC Laundry Stamp)\u201d (1948\u201349), stamped ink on fabric sheeting, 36 3\/4 \u00d7 45 1\/2 inches. Image \u00a9 2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc., courtesy of David Zwirner<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/asawa-1-960x540.jpeg\" alt=\"installation view of 'Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective' at the Museum of Modern Art\" class=\"wp-image-463936\"  \/>Installation view of \u2018Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective.\u2019 Photo by Jonathan Dorado, \u00a9 2025 The Museum of Modern Art, New York<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/asawa-8-960x540.jpeg\" alt=\"installation view of 'Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective' at the Museum of Modern Art\" class=\"wp-image-463937\"  \/>Installation view of \u2018Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective.\u2019 Photo by Jonathan Dorado, \u00a9 2025 The Museum of Modern Art, New York<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/asawa-9-960x540.jpeg\" alt=\"installation view of 'Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective' at the Museum of Modern Art\" class=\"wp-image-463938\"  \/>Installation view of \u2018Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective.\u2019 Photo by Jonathan Dorado, \u00a9 2025 The Museum of Modern Art, New York<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/asawa-11-960x540.jpeg\" alt=\"installation view of 'Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective' at the Museum of Modern Art\" class=\"wp-image-463939\"  \/>Installation view of \u2018Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective.\u2019 Photo by Jonathan Dorado, \u00a9 2025 The Museum of Modern Art, New York<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do stories and artists like this matter to you?<\/strong> Become a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/members\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"118516\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Colossal Member<\/a> now, and support independent arts publishing.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Hide advertising<\/li>\n<li>Save your favorite articles<\/li>\n<li>Get 15% off in the <a href=\"https:\/\/colossal.shop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Colossal Shop<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Receive members-only newsletter<\/li>\n<li>Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the most iconic figures of the mid-20th century, trailblazing Japanese-American artist Ruth Asawa led a prolific&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":311713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[26124,648,1032,157273,1033,171,26922,50701,1038,67,132,68,9924],"class_list":{"0":"post-311712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-art-history","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-botanic","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-plants","15":"tag-ruth-asawa","16":"tag-sculpture","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-wire"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115391615038232919","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}