The Faces Of Ruth Asawa
2022-07-06 11:00 - 2026-07-06 17:00 UTC | Cantor Arts Center, 328 Lomita Drive at Museum Way, Stanford, CA, 94305, United States
From the mid-1960s through 2000, Asawa created hundreds of individual face masks out of clay. With the Cantor’s Asian American Art Initiative, this wall of 233 masks becomes a permanent part of their collection.
The Asian American Art Initiative (AAAI) transforms Stanford into the leading academic and curatorial center for Asian American art. Alexander and Marci Kwon, assistant professor in Stanford’s Department of Art and Art History, serve as AAAI co-directors. As part of the initiative, the Cantor works to build the preeminent collection of Asian American art at a university art museum.
The Cantor acquired Untitled (LC.012, Wall of Masks) in 2020. On July 6, 2022, they go on long-term view at the museum, marking the first time this work has been shown in its entirety at any museum or public institution. The focused exhibition, The Faces of Ruth Asawa, curated by Alexander, features the masks and three vessels by Asawa’s son Paul Lanier. These special vessels were created with clay mixed with the ashes of Asawa, her husband Albert, and their late son, Adam. Upon Asawa’s death—per her request—Lanier took this material and threw a set of vessels, one for each remaining sibling. The three included in The Faces of Ruth Asawa were borrowed from the family. Their inclusion in the exhibition further demonstrates Asawa’s deeply intimate connection to clay.
Hear from Asawa’s family and friends, including mask subjects, about her process making the masks >
The museum is open Wed – Sun, free with reservations. Reserve here >
End date is open-ended.

Installation: Ruth Asawa: Untitled (S.272)
2024-10-07 08:00 - 2026-02-28 17:00 | Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
An iconic work by a beloved and influential Bay Area artist, Untitled (S.272) is a nine-foot-tall hanging sculpture composed of looped copper and iron wire, created in the mid-1950s by Ruth Asawa (American, 1926–2013). This second installation in the Fang Family Launchpad is a masterful example of the suspended, abstract works of looped wire for which Asawa is best known. Its airy interior and exterior spaces flow seamlessly into one another, using organic lines that evoke shapes found in nature — including the human body — while also suggesting a gently undulating movement.
Museum Hours:
Thu:
1 PM – 8 PM
Fri–Mon:
10 AM–5 PM
Tue–Wed:
Closed
Photo: Ruth Asawa, Untitled (S.272, Hanging Seven-Lobed Continuous Interlocking Form with Spheres in Two Lobes), approx. 1954. Copper and iron wire. © 2024 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photograph by Kevin Candland. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.

Collection 2: Undo, Redo
2025-02-21 10:00 - 2025-06-01 17:00 | National Museum Of Art Osaka, 4-2-55 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan
The Collection 2 exhibition focuses on the way artists undo and redo existing materials, structures, and history along with the state of their works. As a starting point, we look at pieces by Louise Bourgeois and Leonor Antunes that were acquired by the museum in 2023, and a work by Ruth Asawa that was acquired in 2024 and is being shown here for the first time in Japan. The exhibition also includes many other recent acquisitions.
The exhibition title was inspired by I Do, I Undo, I Redo, a work by Bourgeois that was shown in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in 2000, and the creative activities of artists such as Aiko Tezuka, two of whom’s works were added to the museum collection in 2023.
Artists:
Louise BOURGEOIS, Ruth ASAWA, Leonor ANTUNES, Tetsumi KUDO, Shigeo ANZAÏ, Sopheap PICH, Yoko TERAUCHI, Chiharu SHIOTA, Zon ITO, Izumi KATO, Tomoaki ISHIHARA, Kei TAKEMURA, Rei NAITO, Yayoi KUSAMA, Ryoko AOKI, Mari KATAYAMA, BuBu de la Madeleine, Miyako ISHIUCHI, Saori AKUTAGAWA(MADOKORO), Tiger TATEISHI(Koichi・Taigaa), Tadanori YOKOO, Miran FUKUDA, Akira SHIMIZU, Pei-Shih TU, Sterling RUBY, Aiko TEZUKA
Jiro TAKAMATSU, Henry MOORE, Marino MARINI, Joan MIRÓ, Alexander CALDER, Yoshihiro SUDA, Mark MANDERS
*Exhibits are subject to change.
The Museum is open 10:00–17:00 (last admission 16:30)
Fridays and Saturdays until 20:00 (last admission 19:30).
Closed Mondays
Hours and Admission

Free admission days
February 15, March 1, April 5, May 3 and 18.
