Ruth Asawa's Sinuous Sculptures Take Over David Zwirner London
Alongside rare works on paper by the late American artist.
London’s David Zwirner gallery is holding the first major presentation of Ruth Asawa’s work outside of the US. Working in the late 1940s, Asawa challenged conventional notions of sculpture through an emphasis on lightness and transparency. “A Line Can Go Anywhere” highlights her wire sculptures and wide-ranging body of works on paper — spanning more than five decades of her career.
Constantly experimenting across a range of mediums, Asawa moved between the abstract and figurative. She created intricate, dynamic and sinuous works that emphasized the natural world and its forms through the use of the line. “I was interested in it because of the economy of a line, making something in space, enclosing it without blocking it out,” she said. “It’s still transparent. I realized that if I was going to make these forms, which interlock and interweave, it can only be done with a line because a line can go anywhere.”
Suspended from the gallery’s ceilings are looped-wire sculptures that range from elaborate multi-lobed shapes to nested compositions made from a single continuous length of wire. Other highlights include rare work on paper Asawa created during her time at Black Mountain College. Using a ‘BMC’ laundry stamp, she created intricate compositions that showcase her spare but elegant style.
Take a look inside “A Line Can Go Anywhere” in the gallery above. The exhibition is on view from now until February 22.
Elsewhere in the art world, Fondazione Prada’s “The Porcelain Room” examines the historical context and impact of Chinese export porcelain.
David Zwirner
24 Grafton St
Mayfair, London
