Skip to Content
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged or downloaded.

Photo Credit: David Dietrich

Artist
Ruth Asawa (Primary)
Title

Untitled (S.372)

Date
circa 1950-1954
Century
20th century
Medium & Support
Iron wire
Dimensions
overall: 34 1/2 x 24 x 24 in.
Style
Abstraction
Object Type
Sculpture and Installations
Class System
Decorative Arts & Design
Class 1
Sculptural
Credit Line
Black Mountain College Collection, gift of Lorna Blaine Halper
Accession Number
2007.27.09.33
Copyright
In Copyright
© Estate of Ruth Asawa / Artists Rights Socitey (ARS), New York
ON VIEW
Description

Woven from iron wire. 3 large circular forms with two smaller circular forms inside larger forms.

Label History

Asawa enrolled at Black Mountain College in summer 1946. In Josef Albers’s design class, students used materials such as leaves and found objects in their studies, largely because the college cound not afford art supplies. Anni Albers and student Alex Reed created hardware jewelry, further demonstrating that hierarchies do not exist among materials. In summer 1947 in Mexico, Asawa became intrigued by the looped wire baskets used to hold eggs at the market. This simple form, constructed from a common utilitarian material, was the catalyst for the creation of Asawa’s elegant wire sculptures. Simple wire baskets evolved into more complex forms often woven from a single strand, as she realized the capacity of looped wire structures to support weight and retain form.

Exhibition Title: Asheville Art Museum: An Introduction to the Collection
Label Date: 2021
Type: Catalogue Entry
Written by: Mary Emma Harris

Keywords

Showing 4 of 302