© 2022 Imogen Cunningham Trust. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc. / ARS, NY and DACS, London. Courtesy David Zwirner
Imogen Cunningham, Ruth Asawa 3, 1957
Modern Art Oxford: »Ruth Asawa: Citizen of the Universe«
Art as a positive force for social interaction
Ruth Asawa was more than an artist. She was a visionary activist: teaching art and redefining the meaning of art in society were her goals. Beginning May 28, Modern Art Oxford presents the exhibition Ruth Asawa: Citizen of the Universe.
May 27, 2022
Promoting the positive power of art and re-integrating it into people's everyday lives were her goals: Sculptor Ruth Asawa spent her life advocating for a rethinking of art. In her view, art should be central to society and everyone should be encouraged to be creative: »Art makes people better, more qualified in their thinking«. Modern Art Oxford's exhibition Ruth Asawa: Citizen of the Universe presents the artist's well-known wire sculptures alongside numerous drawings, letters and photographs. It will be on view from May 28 through August 21. Admission is free of charge.
Ruth Asawa (1926-2013) was a U.S. artist of Japanese descent. Formative for her work and vision was her study at Black Mountain College with Josef Albers. Science and art were taught there on an interdisciplinary and equal basis. Asawa was instrumental in the founding of the San Francisco School of Arts in the early 1980s, which was renamed after her in 2010. Her works are in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among others. In 2022, some of her pieces will be shown at the Venice Biennale.
Ruth Asawa: Citizen of the Universe will subsequently be on view at the Stavanger Art Museum in Norway from October 1, 2022 to January 22, 2023.
Collection of the San José Museum of Art. Museum purchase with funds contributed by Polly and Tom Bredt, Elaine and Rex Cardinale, and Mary Mocas. 2006.12. Image © San José Museum of Art, Photograph by Douglas Sandberg. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc. / ARS, NY and DACS, London. Courtesy David Zwirner
Ruth Asawa, Untitled (S.234, WallMounted Tied-Wire, Closed-Center, Four-Petaled Form Based on Nature), c. 1960s, Late
Collection of the San José Museum of Art. Gift of the Artist, in honor of the San José Museum of Art’s 35th Anniversary. 2003.28.03. Image © San José Museum of Art, Photograph by JKA Photography. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc. / ARS, NY and DACS, London. Courtesy David Zwirner
Ruth Asawa, Untitled (S.035, Hanging Six-Lobed, MultiLayered Interlocking Continuous Form within a Form with Spheres in the Second, Fifth, and Sixth Lobes), c. 1962
Dive deeper into the art world
»Robert Frank: Mary's Book« at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Like a love poem: Robert Frank's experimental photo book
Robert Frank was an influential photographer of the 20th century. In Robert Frank: Mary's Book, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston presents a very personal photo book from the artist's younger years. The show opens on December 21.
December 21, 2024
First bronze sculptures by Mathias Kadolph
Patio, Teatro piccolo, Vis à vis
The lively, dynamic and concentrated formal language of sculptor Mathias Kadolph has so far manifested itself primarily through his material, wood. Now, for the first time, he has had miniatures cast in bronze in an edition of twelve sculptures each. These convey essential impressions of his formal ideas and open up to new impulses for our perception.
December 20, 2024
