MoMA - Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective
Sun, Oct 19
|MoMA
Discover the transformative vision of Ruth Asawa in this landmark MoMA retrospective—300 works tracing a life shaped by material, form, and community.
Time & Location
Oct 19, 2025, 7:00 PM – Feb 07, 2026, 11:00 PM
MoMA, 11 W 53rd St, New York, NY 10019, USA
About the event
October 19, 2025 – February 7, 2026
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Visit MoMA.org
“I’m more interested in what the material can do.”So said Ruth Asawa, whose daily practice of drawing, sculpting, and public engagement transformed ordinary materials into extraordinary forms. Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective is the most comprehensive posthumous survey of the artist’s work to date, bringing together approximately 300 pieces spanning six decades—from her iconic looped-wire sculptures to bronze casts, ink drawings, prints, paintings, and public commissions.
Trained at Black Mountain College and based in San Francisco, Asawa devoted her life to both artmaking and civic leadership, challenging conventional boundaries between abstraction and figuration, craft and fine art, and living and creating. Her looped wire forms, simultaneously light and architectural, explore the tension between negative and positive space, while her drawings and public works reflect a deep commitment to education and community.
This exhibition invites visitors to consider Asawa’s integrated vision—where…