Eliana Willis

“Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak” opened on October 13 at Denver Art Museum, the largest retrospective of the work of the beloved American author and illustrator to date. The exhibition includes over 400 sketches, artworks, storyboards, and paintings by Sendak. Christoph Heinrich, the director of Denver Art Museum, called the large-scale show “a huge logistical undertaking,” telling viewers of a behind-the-scenes video posted on Rocky Mountain PBS YouTube that, “with more than 400 objects it’s very big… probably one of the most objects we’ve ever had in a show.”
Sendak was born in Brooklyn in 1928 to Jewish immigrant parents who had fled political turmoil in Poland. At 19, the young Sendak—almost entirely self-taught—began to illustrate his first books.
Author and illustrator Maurice Sendak standing by an life-size scene from his book Where the Wild Things Are at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. Photo by James Keyser/Getty Images.
Written across an illustrious 65-year career, Sendak is known for his children’s books including Where the Wild Things Are, Nutshell Library, Outside Over There, Alligators All Round, and In the Night Kitchen. He is the world’s most celebrated picture book artist in history, having won the Caldecott Medal and the Hans Christian Andersen Awards for children’s literature and illustration respectively, as well as the National Medal of Arts.
Installation view of the Maurice Sendak retrospective in Denver. Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post.
“Maurice Sendak tells stories of curiosity and courage, adventure and discovery, resilience and a deep understanding of the human desire for connection. He invented a new visual language and approach to figuration with almost every project he embarked on. Growing up in a family of Jewish immigrants from Poland folk stories and handed down traditions shaped his perspective as well as WWII and the Holocaust. This makes his personal perspective and artistic production immensely powerful and timeless.”
Here are four key items from the exhibition which is impressing critics.
Where The Wild Things Are Original Artworks
Original illustration for ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ (1963). Image courtesy of Denver Art Museum. © The Maurice Sendak Foundation.
Denver Art Museum’s Sendak retrospective takes its name after the artist’s most famous work: Where the Wild Things Are. The 1963 book—which has sold more than 19 million copies worldwide—follows the story of Max, a boy who enters a world of wild beasts from his bedroom and is eventually crowned the wildest among them. This original watercolor, ink, and graphite illustration shows Max’s happy descent into the mystical jungle.
Costumes from Sendak’s Theatrical Escapades
Costumes from the 2009 movie of ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ at ‘Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak’ (2024). Image courtesy of Denver Art Museum.
In addition to his books, Sendak worked on projects for theatre. This included designing the sets and writing the libretto for the Where the Wild Things Are opera which was first performed in 1980, set to music by British composer Oliver Knussen. Set designs for the opera are included in the exhibition along with costume designs Sedak created for productions of Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker during the 1980s. Costumes from the 2009 live-action, feature-length movie of Where the Wild Things Are also stand among the exhibits at DAM.
Newly-Restored Original ‘Scribbles’
Screengrab taken from Rocky Mountains PBS’ ‘Behind the scenes of Denver Art Museum’s Maurice Sendak ‘Wild Things’ exhibit’.
Heinrich explained in the PBS video that “Sendak kept everything – every piece of paper that he ever scribbled on is part of this amazing legacy”, and DAM Director of Conservation Sarah Melching then shows how she is working to conserve some of these beautiful “scribbles.” We watch as she fixed a tear in tan original illustration for 1962’s Alligators All Around using a wheat starch paste with a mylar spatula. Melching describes Sendak’s habit of listening to Mozart as he created his artwork, and how she has begun to do the same when conserving the artist’s work. References to Sendak’s other musical inspirations, including singer-songwriter Carole King, are noted on the walls of Wild Things.
Artworks by Sedak’s Idols
Install View of ‘Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak’ (2024). Image courtesy of Denver Art Museum.
Also on display are artworks by the creatives who most inspired Sendak, from fellow children’s classics author Beatrix Potter to the 18th century poet and artist William Blake. Work by American cartoonist Winsor McCay, Romantic painter George Stubbs, and animator Walt Disney feature. It was Disney’s 1940 movie ‘Fantasia’ that first inspired a then 12-year old Sendak to become an illustrator.
Images of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ book covers printed in different languages from around the world are on display. Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post.
“Sendak’s art has been meaningful for so many of us and will certainly be for future generations,” said Heinrich. “Wild Things not only offers visitors an opportunity to enjoy his original drawings for these books, but also to explore Sendak’s artistry and the depth and complexity of his exhaustively creative mind.”
Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak is open to view until February 17 2025. More

The annual Forever Is Now exhibition, curated by CulturVator and Art D’Egypte, aims to blur the lines between past and present, inviting visitors to explore artworks that look to the intersections between ancient history and modern day creativity. Set against the backdrop of the Pyramids of Giza, a UNESCO World Heritage site that dates back 4,500 years, the fourth edition of the exhibition explores ancient rituals, civilizations, and forgotten folktales buried in the sands of time. Running from October 26th to November 18th, the exhibition offers visitors an immersive experience that integrates contemporary art with ancient history.
Federica Di Carlo, I See, I See. Courtesy of the artist and Art d’Egypte. Photography: © MO4.
This year’s exhibition brings together 12 international artists, including Chris Levine (UK), Federica Di Carlo (Italy), Jake Michael Singer (South Africa), Jean Boghossian (Belgium/Lebanon), Jean-Marie Appriou (France), Khaled Zaki (Egypt), and Luca Boffi (Italy). These artists are described as ‘modern-day archaeologists’ who aim to unearth narratives that connect the past within a contemporary context. The exhibition presents a range of mediums, including sculpture, installations, and digital works, creating a multi-sensory exploration of history and the human condition.
Ik-Joong Kang, Four Temples. Courtesy of the artist and Art d’Egypte. Photography: © MO4.
Korean-born, New York-based artist Ik Joong Kang presents a new work titled Four Temples, an installation that displays drawings from around the globe, especially from children and those facing political and social challenges, such as refugees from conflict zones and individuals displaced by the Korean War. The work uses architectural symbolism to promote global harmony, bridging connections across cultures. Similarly, Rashid Al Khalifa’s geometric maze installation features relics that emerge from the ground at varying angles, inviting viewers to traverse history and explore the patterns that bind humanity together. Each fragment is adorned with motifs inspired by the labyrinth diagram presented by 17th-century Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher in his book Turris Babel, written in 1679.
Jean-Marie Appriou, Vessel of Time. Courtesy of the artist and Art d’Egypte. Photography: © MO4.
At the heart of Forever Is Now lies a metaphor of excavation, not only of physical artifacts, but of stories, ideas, and emotions. This act of uncovering is both intellectual and emotional, revealing layers of meaning that challenge our understanding of the world. The exhibition emphasizes that history is not a static entity; rather, it is an ever-evolving narrative shaped by each generation’s contributions and perspectives. In the 2023 edition, artist Arne Quinze’s circular lupine sculpture offered an alternative viewpoint of the iconic pyramids, emphasizing the delicate interplay between nature and the legacy of ancient Egyptian culture.
Jean Boghossian, Desert Waves. Courtesy of the artist and Art d’Egypte. Photography: © MO4.
By incorporating unconventional materials, artists challenge viewers to discover new ideas and perspectives. The interplay between excavation, interpretation, and creation lies at the heart of Forever Is Now, where the process of uncovering history becomes an emotional, intellectual, and participatory journey.
Nassia Inglessis, Liquid Solid. Courtesy of the artist and Art d’Egypte. Photography: © MO4.
Founded by Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, Art D’Egypte has emerged as a leading force in Egypt’s cultural landscape, evolving into CulturVator—a multidisciplinary platform that fosters international collaborations across art, design, and heritage. CulturVator’s mission is to build bridges between cultures, promoting cross-cultural exchanges that expand contemporary art’s reach while deepening global appreciation for Egypt’s rich artistic legacy.
Jake Michael Singer, we will meet again in the sky. Courtesy of the artist and Art d’Egypte. Photography: © MO4.
Forever Is Now actively encourages participation from its local communities, including craftspeople, students, and laborers, who are invited to participate in the exhibition, aligning with its commitment to inclusivity, sustainability, and site preservation. Local residents are encouraged to attend free lectures, panels, and community programs. This aligns with the vision set by UNESCO’s Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, whose patronage Art D’Egypte has operated under since 2019. Forever Is Now honors Egypt’s ancient heritage whilst also contributing to a contemporary artistic legacy that engages with history and looks forward to carving new cultural pathways.
Shilo Shiv Suleman, Padma/Lotus. Courtesy of the artist and Art d’Egypte. Photography: © MO4.
Each installation reminds us that the past is not confined to textbooks or excavation sites, rather it lives on through art, culture, and the collective memory of humanity. More

There is a burgeoning constellation of Lower East Side venues nestled around Henry Street, making the corridor a must-go for Saturday art crawls. Now the formerly Berlin-based gallery Cabin is joining the ranks and making its stateside debut.
“We’re interested in creating environments where the art lives,” said Cabin founder Lawrence Hazen. “Definitely not white cube.” Maybe brown cube then? With it’s freshly stained walls, the cozy space is darker than a boutique hotel’s hallways. Its first show, “Scotopia,” just opened and runs through November 8. It’s a fabulously melancholic affair, a strange somnambulant sleepwalk, and the title is a term that describes the “ability to see in low-light conditions.”
Ted Gahl, Light Sleeper (2024). Courtesy of Cabin.
Last week, Hazen was setting up the vernissage with his show collaborators the London-based curator Hugo Alcantara and Raja Umar Jamalullail of MENĀEA Collection, a nontraditional gallery that specializes in Asian antiquities and contemporary art, on the mystical, brooding, assemblage. Buckets of beer and stools were outside the gallery and the sun was setting. The first guests began to arrive. “There’s such a nice sense of community with the other galleries on Henry Street,” Hazen said.
“It was a very unique creative process,” Hazen said of putting the exhibition together. “We were sharing works and we were like, what is connecting this? Because there was definitely a subconscious link to everything. There was something about darkness and seeing in the dark.”
An installation view of “Scotopia.” Courtesy of Cabin.
Artworks range from a red sandstone Indian relief from between the 10th and 12th century, a 1935 Henri Matisse drawing Lydia au Chapeau, to paintings from this year. But it is hard to place a time period upon anything, and a sense of the ancient pervades. Yes, the cabin-like feel is certainly singular, but the curation and inclusion of antiquity and a late period Impressionist drawing sets a tonal shift from nearby galleries like Situations, Elliott Templeton Fine Arts, and Fierman.
Phil Davis, Child Actor in the Sun (2024). Courtesy of Cabin.
The Danish painter Christian John Munks has two standout works in the show, and he channels his master forebears in his brooding scenes. “He’s a young artist that produces five to eight works a year,” Hazen said. “He places people in domestic scenes that have ethereal, otherworldly qualities to them.” Jamalullail stood next to the relief he sourced and explained the narrative.
Red Sandstone Relief of a Scene of the Ramayana India (10th-12th century CE). Courtesy of Cabin.
“They are the human incarnations of the god Vishnu and his wife,” he said. “They’re brought into this world to destroy evil and along their journey they meet a lot of interesting characters. One of them is this monkey God.”
Nearby was an abstract squall by Swiss painter Raphael Egil. “It feels very dystopia, like someone looking and emerging through the darkness,” Hazen noted, “and then almost like a sailor finding this Medusa.”
Cabin is located at 93 Madison Street, New York, NY 10002. More

For the final three decades of his life, the self-taught Dutch artist Joris Hoefnagel drew his way through the known natural world, one creature at a time. The result was a multi-volume manuscript, Four Elements, a glorious series of 270 watercolor miniatures that organized nature largely along the lines set out by Aristotle some 1,900 years earlier.
Washington D.C.’s National Gallery of Art owns a copy (it once belonged to Rudolf II, the Holy Roman Emperor) and it forms a linchpin in the museum’s upcoming exhibition “Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World,” which looks at the vital role of art at the beginning of European natural history in the 16th and 17th centuries.
It’s a collaboration between two museum’s on the National Mall with the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), bringing fur, feather, and flesh to the NGA’s drawings via its taxidermy specimens—think beetles, marmots, and peacocks. Surprisingly, given the two museums’ proximity and overlap, it’s the first such partnership.
Jacob Hoefnagel, after Joris Hoefnagel, Archetypa studiaque patris Georgii Hoefnagelii (1592). Photo: NGA.
The show’s title is taken from the Dutch word beestjes, which connotes fascination with even the smallest of creatures, sparked partly through colonial exploits in the New World. It’s a genre that runs parallel to the Dutch Golden Age preoccupation with still-life painting, partly initiated by Hoefnagel and continued by Jan van Kessel, the 17th-century Antwerp artist.
Beyond demonstrating artistic virtuosity, these intricate renderings—often small enough to require a lens, as will be kindly provided at “Little Beasts”—served as scientific and natural historical references, which in turn inspired future artists. In the upcoming show, NGA seeks to show something of this lineage by including work by Albrecht Dürer, Teodoro Filippo di Liagno, and Wenceslaus Hollar.
“Art and science have been closely aligned,” Kirk Johnson, NMNH’s director said in a statement. “Even today, researchers at the museum depend on scientific illustrators to bring clarity and understanding to the specimens they study.”
“Little Beasts” is divided into three sections. The first centers on Hoefnagel’s Four Elements, an exceptionally rare display given the work’s sensitivity to light. The pages of the books will be turned sporadically during the exhibition’s run.
Jan van Kessel the Elder, Study of Insects and Reptiles (1660). Photo: NGA.
The second looks at the dissemination of period images of the animal world, largely through printmaking. Among others, Hoefnagel’s son, Jacob, published prints of his father’s work that reached a broad audience.
The third section focuses on the aforementioned Kessel and his celebrated paintings, prints, and books. The museum pairs his work with actual specimens from NMNH and allows for visitors to judge the verisimilitude of the artist. One highlight is Sprig of Rosemary (1653) for which the exhibition has created a custom tableau that identifies every insect painted by Kessel.
“Artists have always helped us make sense of the world,” said the NGA’s director Kaywin Feldman. “At ‘Little Beasts,’ delightfully detailed drawings, prints, and paintings invite art lovers of all ages to marvel at these artistic feats and to explore our wondrous word.”
“Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World” will be on view at National Gallery of Art, Washington, Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, D.C., from May 18 through November 2, 2025. More

Pansori, an indigenous narrative vocal performance, holds a key place in Korean culture. Originating during the Joseon period (1392–1910), it involves a singer and a drummer and is known for its emotional, powerful sounds. As a storytelling tradition, it has shaped Korean music and served as a cultural bridge between generations. Recognized by UNESCO as a form of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2008, pansori has influenced K-pop, K-drama, and visual art.
This year, pansori takes center stage at the Gwangju Biennale in that South Korean city, thanks to French curator Nicolas Bourriaud, the artistic director of the event’s main exhibition, which is titled “Pansori: A Soundscape of the 21st Century.” Featuring works by 72 artists from 30 countries, the exhibition aims to reinterpret the traditional discipline within a modern context. Bourriaud sees pansori as a public space for voices to blend and communicate, creating a “visual symphony” that invites viewers to rethink human interactions with machines, animals, spirits, and organic life.
Interpreting Asian traditions through a Western lens can be risky. Done thoughtfully, it can break cultural boundaries and foster new insights, but it also carries challenges. Bourriaud, who previously curated the Taipei Biennial in 2014, faced high expectations in trying to capture the essence of pansori while expanding its narrative.
This year’s Gwangju Biennale focuses on a planet in crisis. Its main exhibition hall is divided into three sections: “Feedback Effect,” “Polyphony,” and “Primordial Sound,” with installations and paintings that address various interpretations of the theme. Some works create visual and sonic experiences, though their perspectives may not always align or converge.
Exploring Yangnim-dong, a historically significant area in Gwangju, provides a more immersive experience. Here, 12 artists across eight venues have worked to integrate their creations with the environment and local community, enhancing audience engagement.
Some critics have argued that the show lacks a specific connection to the event’s historical roots. Founded to commemorate the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, a pivotal moment in South Korea’s democratization, the biennale this year may feel to some more like a generic global exhibition than a commemoration of this key anniversary. While the voices presented are varied, they do not coalesce into a consensus. This diversity could be strength, helping Gwangju to emerge as a platform for major global issues like migration, politics, and environmental challenges.
The biennale’s Pavilion section—dedicated to displays from individual nations, as in Venice—has expanded significantly, with 31 pavilions this year compared to nine in the previous edition. Several standout exhibitions include those by Southeast Asian countries at the Asia Culture Center, Japan’s lyrical “We (Still) Have Things to Remember,” and the U.S. Pavilion’s “Rhythmic Vibrations,” presented by the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, which explores the complexities of Asian identity in a Western context.
Running through December 1, the Gwangju Biennale showcases many impressive works and promising artists. Below, we highlight six rising stars worth watching.
—Vivienne Chow

Mira Mann (b. 1993)
Mira Mann, objects of the wind (2024). Installation view at the Gwangju Biennale, 2024. Image courtesy of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation
Gallery affiliation: Galerie Drei in Cologne
What to know: Calling the Frankfurt-born, Düsseldorf-based artist a star of this year’s Gwangju Biennale is not an exaggeration. The artist has an impressive 33-foot long installation, objects of the wind (2024), in the main exhibition’s “Feedback Effect” section and has staged a poignant takeover of an abandoned house in the Yangnim-dong area. The works delve into histories connecting Germany and Korea and reinterpret Korean folklore. They address a big picture through the personal lens of the artist, who was born to a Korean migrant mother in West Germany.
Most wanted: There is a strong demand for Mann’s “mirror” works, according to the gallery, and objects of the wind (2024) is the largest in the series to date.
Price points: The price range for typical mid-sized sculptures and moving-image works is currently €5,000 to €10,000 (about $5,400 to $10,800).
Up next: The artist is currently featured in the group exhibition “…and we live by the river” at KIT in Düsseldorf through November 10. A second solo exhibition with Galerie Drei is scheduled for January.

Harrison Pearce (b. 1986)
Harrison Pearce, Valence. Installation view at the Gwangju Biennale, 2024. Image courtesy of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation
Gallery affiliation: Mou Projects, Hong Kong, is representing the artist in Asia. He also works closely with other galleries such as Carl Kostyál in Stockholm, Ribot Gallery in Milan, and GNYP in Antwerp.
What to know: The London-born and -based Pearce was a popular target for photographers at the preview. His ambitious installation, Valence (2024), commissioned by the biennale, was equally popular. It consisting of 10 modular kinetic sculptures, each with a white inflatable silicone rubber element resembling an image of the artist’s brain. Its shape is distorted when it is touched gently by a metal stick’s rivet, which moves in a rhythm according to an automated pneumatic system controlled by a sonic composition that aims to relate pansori with the exploration of free will and collective engagement. The intriguing presentation, which questions the relationship between human and technology, was well-received.
Most wanted: The artist’s sculptural and installation works are the most in-demand, according to Mou Projects, but his paintings are also popular.
Price points: Paintings are priced $10,000 to $30,000. Prices for sculpture and installation vary.
Up next: The artist is currently having a solo show with GNYP in Antwerp. He will be in the Artissima art fair in Turin with Ribot in November, a group show with Perrotin in February in 2025, and a solo show with New Galerie next spring. Mou Projects aims to bring the artist back to Hong Kong for a solo in 2025 or 2026, a follow-up to the artist’s first solo with the gallery in 2023.

Haseeb Ahmed (b. 1985)
Haseeb Ahmed. Stock Weather III. Installation view at the Gwangju Biennale, 2024. Image courtesy of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation
Gallery affiliation: Harlan Levey Projects, Brussels
What to know: Born in Ohio and based in Brussels, Ahmed has a research-based practice that blends art with science and technology, with a focus on the fluid dynamics of wind and water. At the Gwangju Biennale, he presents Stock Weather III (2024), an installation that connects the manmade global economy with weather, which comes from nature, exploring how the two shape our lives. Stock market data controls fans that create winds over a miniature desert. A camera captures this evolving scene, displayed on curved monitors, hinting at the game-like nature of economics. The rotating arm acts like a clock, but the landscape stays in twilight, symbolizing a bleak future shaped by global capitalism.
Most wanted: Mixed-media scrolls and sculptures
Price points: $8,000 to $45,000
Up next: Ahmed is currently included in the exhibition “A Botanical Conversation” at Harlan Levey Projects, which runs through December 14. The artist will soon premiere a new film, Sand Reckoner, which traces the origin of the Mediterranean’s sirocco wind. He is also organizing “Pantha Rhei on the Rhine,” which consists of sound works commissioned by various institutions in Europe, and preparing for a presentation of his recent works at his new studio.

Yein Lee (b. 1988)
Yein Lee, System of In-between State (2024). Installation view at the Gwangju Biennale, 2024. Image courtesy of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation
Gallery affiliation: Lee does not currently have any galleries representing her, but she will be working with Podium in Hong Kong. She has also worked with Jack Barrett in New York, Super Dakota in  Brussels, and Galerie Derouillon in Paris.
What to know: Lee is a Korean artist based in Vienna who works across sculpture, installation, painting, and performance to explore fragmented and transient representations of the body. By reusing found materials and blending elements of technology with organic forms, her art examines social and ecological breakdowns, amplifying voices of otherness through bodies in states of crisis. Featured in Gwangju Biennale is System of In-between State (2024), an eerie installation that consists of complex sculptures that look like enigmatic cyborgs made up of body parts and technological hardware. Could this be a vision of our future?
Most wanted: Lee’s sculptures, as well as acrylic ink and lacquer paintings on galvanized steel plate.
Price points: Prices for sculptures range from $5,000 to $25,000. Her paintings start at $3,000.
Up next: She will be in a group exhibition, “Aftershock,” at Podium in Hong Kong in March 2025, coinciding with Art Basel Hong Kong.

Phạm Minh Hiếu (b. 1996)
Phạm Minh Hiếu, “The Laboratory for Experimental (Meta)physics (Room 5),” the Vietnam Pavilion, Gwangju Biennale Pavilion. Installation view at the Gwangju Biennale, 2024. Image courtesy of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation
Gallery affiliation: Galerie Quynh in Ho Chi Minh City
What to know: Born and based in Hanoi, Phạm draws on philosophy, physics, technology, and anthropology to create “total installations”—immersive environments that question reality through ideas and objects. His work reflects the experiences of a generation coming of age in a modern Vietnam shaped by its colonial past and the Vietnam War. In the Gwangju Biennale Pavilion’s Vietnam Pavilion, Phạm’s “The Laboratory for Experimental (Meta)physics (Room 5)” features a double-sided illuminated folding screen. One side depicts a calm water surface, while the other shows a chaotic urban scene. The contrasting imagery and soundscape highlight the complexity of navigating dual realities.
Most wanted: A mosaic work titled Somewhere and the video work Here & Now 2023 have received the most attention.
Price points: $12,000 to $60,000
Up next: The artist serves as one of the curators of the Creative Design Festival in Hanoi, running from November 9 to 17 as part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. (The other curators are Uyen Le and Van Do.) The artist is planning to further develop the Gwangju work in the U.S. in 2025.

Amol K Patil (b. 1987)
Amol K Patil, Who is invited in the City? (2024). Installation view at the Gwangju Biennale, 2024. Image courtesy of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation
Gallery affiliation: Project 88 in Mumbai and TKG+ Projects in Taipei
What to know: Born in Mumbai and based between Mumbai and Amsterdam, Patil is a conceptual and performance artist who also works with sculpture and painting. His practice often involves the excavation of historical tales and the archives of his family. His late father, Kisan, who died when the artist was a child, was an avant-garde playwright, and his grandfather was a poet. Both adopted art as a form of resistance, which greatly influenced Patil. Commissioned by the biennale, Patil’s installation Who is invited in the City? (2024), which consists of bronze sculptures, video, light, and sound, is a poignant reflection on the shift of the contemporary urban landscape of Mumbai.
Most wanted: Wall-hanging bronze sculptures and works on paper.
Price points: $3,000 to $10,000
Up next: The artist will have a solo show at Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in California in January, another at the Röda Sten Konsthall in Sweden in February, and one more at the Bałtycka Galeria Sztuki Współczesnej in Poland in April. He will participate in Mercosul Biennial in Brazil in March. More

The more you learn about the late Bay Area artist Ruth Asawa (1926–2013), the remarkable nature of her life and career becomes more and more apparent. Now, the Japanese American sculptor, painter, and printmaker is getting her first posthumous retrospective, with an international exhibition organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
Five years in the making, the show will feature over 300 works of art, featuring the intricate looped wire hanging sculptures for which Asawa is best known. The exhibition will also showcase her works in a wide range of other media, including drawing, printmaking, paper-folding, and the many public sculptures still on view across the Bay Area.
“People will be really astonished to see what else she did,” SFMOMA chief curator and curator of painting and sculpture Janet Bishop told me. “She was somebody who was relentlessly creative. Everything she did, she did in her own way.”
“Ruth Asawa is an artist who is very exciting because of how seamlessly she integrated her art practice into her life. Material exploration was ceaseless, and
 she was a fierce art advocate, instrumental in bringing arts education into the Bay Area schools,” Cara Manes, MoMA’s associate curator of painting and sculpture, added.
Ruth Asawa, Untitled, (S.046a-d, Hanging Group of Four, Two-Lobed Forms), 1961. Collection of Diana Nelson and John Atwater, promised gift to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. ©2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, courtesy David Zwirner. Photo by Laurence Cuneo.
The artist grew up on a farm in Norwalk, California, until high school, when the government forced her family to relocate to a Japanese internment camp, first in California and later in Arkansas.
Asawa began pursuing art in college, studying at the famed Black Mountain College outside Asheville, North Carolina, with Josef Albers and Buckminster Fuller from 1946 to ’49. It was a fruitful time for the young artist, as she began adopting the line-based visual language and techniques that would characterize her work over the next six decades, including learning looped-wire basketry in Toluca, Mexico, in 1947.
After school, Asawa married one of her fellow students, the architect Albert Lanier. The two moved to San Francisco, where they would raise six children—two adopted, four biological—and live for the rest of their lives.
“When Ruth got to San Francisco, she was still in her early 20s. She knew she wanted to have a big family, and she knew she wanted to have a career, and it was important to her that those things were integrated,” Bishop said. “She did not feel the limitation of expectations for women, and didn’t feel like she needed to make a choice between art and family. Both were incredibly important to her.”
Ruth Asawa, Untitled (PF.293, Bouquet from Anni Albers), early 1990s. Private collection. ©2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, courtesy David Zwirner. Photo courtesy Christie’s.
Asawa worked tirelessly, reportedly sleeping as little as four hours a night. When the children were in bed, she made work. And her unique practice was shaped by the realities of childcare.
“Unlike working with oil painting, for instance, where it’s harder to put something down and and then go into the kitchen and tend to the pot of soup, she worked intentionally with materials that that could be put down and picked back up again,” Bishop said.
Asawa’s woven sculptures were sometimes dismissed as belong to the realm of craft, or women’s work—a 1956 ARTnews review called them “‘domestic’ sculptures in a feminine, handiwork mode.”
Nonetheless, she secured New York representation with Louis Pollack. He gave her three solo shows at the Peridot Gallery in the 1950s—until Asawa decided to step away. (The retrospective will include a display of works she showed in New York.)
“She was beginning to have a kind of market career.
She was getting commissions,” Manes said. “Her kids were toddlers or newborns at that point. She just made a decision to focus on other things and not need to meet the demands of this burgeoning market that was being made for her.”
Ruth Asawa, Untitled (S.433, Hanging Nine Open Hyperbolic Shapes Joined Laterally), ca. 1958; William Roth Estate. ©2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, courtesy David Zwirner. Photo by Laurence Cuneo.
That market would stay largely paused for decades, until mere months before Asawa’s death, when one of her works sold for $1.4 million at Christie’s New York. Her profile has continued to rise in the decade-plus since, with mega-gallery David Zwirner taking on representation of the estate in 2017. (Her current auction record of $5.3 million was set at Christie’s New York in 2020, according to the Artnet Price Database.)
But while she did not pursue art world fame during her lifetime, Asawa remained dedicated to her practice. Her sculptures, with their interlocking lobes and nested forms, remain instantly identifiable, despite each one being unique. SFMOMA gave Asawa a mid-career retrospective in 1973, and she became well known across the city for her public monuments.
Some of these projects were collaborations with children, teaching them to sculpt with baker’s clay, made from flour, salt, and water. For San Francisco Fountain, outside the Grand Hyatt San Francisco, Asawa worked with children across the city to model the tiny scenes in relief sculpture for a drum-like basin she cast in bronze.
Ruth Asawa, Andrea (PC.002), 1966–68; Commissioned by developer William M. Roth for the renovation of Ghirardelli Square. 900 North Point Street, San Francisco. ©2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, courtesy David Zwirner. Photo by Aiko Cuneo.
Asawa began working with kids because of her passionate belief in arts education. She cofounded the grassroots Alvarado Arts Workshop, which ultimately blossomed into a citywide commitment to arts education in San Francisco public schools. She was a champion for the founding of a dedicated School of the Arts in 1982, which was renamed in her honor in 2010.
The exhibition will delve into Asawa’s incredible work with the community, but also remain rooted in her home and studio in San Francisco’s Noe Valley. One of the galleries at SFMOMA will be inspired by the space, placing the home’s nine-foot-tall carved Redwood doors at the entrance.
“She lived with the work that she was making—and that of others who were important to her, by friends and mentors like Josef Albers,” Manes said. “We’re planning a gallery that really communicates this seamlessness between living and art making, life and art, and between the home and studio.”
“Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective” will be on view at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third Street, San Francisco, California, April 4–September 2, 2025; the Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, New York, New York, October 19, 2025–February 7, 2026; Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Abandoibarra Etorb., 2, Abando, 48009 Bilbo, Bizkaia, Spain, March 20–September 13, 2026; and Fondation Beyeler, Baselstrasse 101, 4125 Riehen/Basel, Switzerland, October 18, 2026–January 24, 2027. More