Ruth Asawa: Retrospective will present the full range of the artist’s groundbreaking practice, offering an in-depth look at her expansive output and its inspirations through more than 300 artworks. It will also explore the ways her longtime San Francisco home and garden served as the epicenter of her creative universe and highlight the ethos of collaboration and inclusivity that informed her numerous public sculpture commissions and unwavering dedication to arts advocacy.
Asawa’s signature looped-wire sculptures will share gallery space with lesser-known works that bring insight into the relentlessly experimental nature of her artistic vision. In addition to Asawa’s own work, the exhibition will include a select number of works by peers and mentors with whom Asawa engaged in creative dialogue, including Josef Albers and Imogen Cunningham.
Artist Ruth Asawa creates a woven wire sculpture and discusses other sculptural forms in her home studio in this 1978 film footage. Excerpts from Robert Snyder’s film Ruth Asawa: Of Forms and Growth © Masters & Masterworks Productions, Inc. All rights reserved www.mastersmasterworks.com
Ruth Asawa: 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 co-curated by Janet Bishop, Thomas Weisel Family Chief Curator and Curator of Painting and Sculpture, SFMOMA and Cara Manes, Associate Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, MoMA; with Marin Sarvé-Tarr, Assistant Curator, and William Hernández Luege, Curatorial Associate, Painting and Sculpture, SFMOMA; and Dominika Tylcz, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Department of Painting and Sculpture, MoMA.
Major support for the exhibition and catalogue is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation.
At the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, lead support is provided by Randi and Bob Fisher, the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund, Diana Nelson and John Atwater, and Helen and Charles Schwab.
Presenting support is provided by Dana and Bob Emery.
Major support is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Christie’s, Davidow Family Fund for Exhibitions of Modern Art, The KHR McNeely Family Foundation, Kevin, Rosemary, and Hannah Rose McNeely, Katie and Matt Paige, and Shelagh Rohlen, in memory of Tom Rohlen.
Significant support is provided by the Neal Benezra Exhibition Fund, The Black Dog Private Foundation, Jim Breyer, Susan Karp and Paul Haahr, Maria Manetti Shrem and Jan Shrem, The Elaine McKeon Endowed Exhibition Fund, Kate and Wes Mitchell, Deborah and Kenneth Novack, the Bernard and Barbro Osher Exhibition Fund, Nancy and Alan Schatzberg, Lydia Shorenstein, and David Zwirner.
Meaningful support is provided by the Mary Jane Elmore West Coast Exhibition Fund, Jessica and Matt Farron, Hellman & Friedman LLC, Maryellen and Frank Herringer, Rummi and Arun Sarin Painting and Sculpture Fund, Roselyne Chroman Swig, Diane B. Wilsey, and Pat Wilson.
Additional support is provided by the Stuart G. Moldaw Public Program and Exhibition Fund and The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation.
This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.
Major support for the catalogue is provided by Denise Littlefield Sobel.
Meaningful support for the catalogue is provided by the Wyeth Foundation for American Art.
Header image: Artist Ruth Asawa making wire sculptures, California, United States, November 1954; image: Nat Farbman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock; artwork: © 2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc. / Artists Rights Society(ARS), New York, courtesy David Zwirner