Ruth Asawa’s Retrospective Has Landed in New York at the MoMA

Installation view of “Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective” on view at the Museum of Modern Art. (Photo: Jonathan Dorado)

After its five-month run at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA), the first posthumous retrospective of Ruth Asawa’s work has finally landed in New York at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The landmark exhibition, aptly titled Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective, gathers nearly 400 objects, each representing various points, moods, and sources of inspiration throughout Asawa’s six-decade career.

“What’s exceptional about Asawa’s practice is the multiplicity of her artistic pursuits and the marvelous ability to turn the simplest things into subjects of lifelong creative contemplation,” Cara Manes, associate curator in MoMA’s department of painting and sculpture, said in a statement. “The exhibition aims to offer multiple points of entry into her work, reflecting what Asawa described as the ‘total act’ of artmaking.”

The retrospective begins with the artist’s early experiments with wire, a material which she gravitated to when enrolled in the Black Mountain College near Asheville, North Carolina, after World War II. While there, Asawa developed her signature technique for looping wire, one that would eventually come to define her groundbreaking practice. Such works as Untitled (S.535, Hanging Five-Lobed Continuous Form), from 1951, serve as a precursor to the abstract, sinuous forms for which the artist is known, many of which resemble continuous drops of water.

Asawa’s looped-wire sculptures also reveal her preoccupation with organic and naturalistic motifs. If not liquid, these structures seem reminiscent of molecules, feathers, twigs, and flowers. In Untitled (S.390, Hanging Tied-Wire), for instance, Asawa reimagines a tree, creating a tangled cluster of branches with copper wire. She then doubles this image, replicating and mirroring the tree beneath itself, as if hinting at a root network. These sculptures are complemented by multidisciplinary works, comprising everything from drawing, printmaking, and paper folds to commercial designs, bronze casts, and other works on paper.

Taken in its entirety, it’s clear that the exhibition is an ambitious retelling of Asawa’s expansive practice. What further distinguishes it, per the Art Newspaper, is the fact that Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective stands as the largest show ever devoted to a woman artist at MoMA or SFMoMA—at least when judging based on checklists. After all, SFMoMA’s illustrated checklist spans 81 pages, while MoMA’s is 94. Both museums also dedicated an impressive amount of real estate to the exhibition, taking up at least 15,000 square feet of gallery space.

“We knew that it was going to be a very rich, full presentation that looked at all aspects of her artistic production,” Janet Bishop, SFMoMA’s chief curator, told the Art Newspaper, “but I didn’t think about the sheer numbers.”

Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective is now on view at MoMA through February 7, 2026.

Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective gathers nearly 400 objects, spanning the entirety of the artist's six-decade career.

“Untitled” (S.535, Hanging Five-Lobed Continuous Form within a Form with Spheres in the First and Fourth Lobes and a Teardrop Form in the Third Lobe), 1951. Iron and brass wire. Private collection. (Courtesy David Zwirner)

Installation view of “Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective” on view at the Museum of Modern Art. (Photo: Jonathan Dorado)

“Untitled,” c. 1948–49. Stamped ink on fabric sheeting. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Acquired through the generosity of Joshua and Filipa Fink, 2018.

“Untitled” (BMC.145, BMC Laundry Stamp), c. 1948–49. Stamped ink on fabric sheeting. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Acquired through the generosity of Joshua and Filipa Fink, 2018. (Courtesy David Zwirner)

Installation view of “Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective” on view at the Museum of Modern Art. (Photo: Jonathan Dorado)

“Untitled,” 1963. Copper wire. Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, gift of Rita Newman.

“Untitled” (S.390, Hanging Tied-Wire, Double-Sided, Center-Tied, Multi-Branched Form with Curly Ends), 1963. Copper wire. Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, gift of Rita Newman. (Courtesy David Zwirner)

After its five-month run at SFMoMA, Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective is now on view at MoMA in New York through February 7, 2026.

Installation view of “Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective” on view at the Museum of Modern Art. (Photo: Jonathan Dorado)

“Untitled” (S.398, Hanging Eight-Lobed, Four-Part, Discontinuous Surface Form within a Form with Spheres in the Seventh and Eighth Lobes), c. 1955. Brass wire, iron wire, and galvanized iron wire. The Museum of Modern Art, Promised gift of Alice and Tom Tisch, 2016. (Courtesy David Zwirner)