Art & Conversation: Ruth Asawa

Join us for a conversation with Wendy Kaplan, LACMA Curator and Department Head, Decorative Arts and Design, about artist Ruth Asawa’s sculpture Untitled on view in the Modern Art galleries.

Renowned for her ethereal wire hangings that redefine the notion of sculpture as solid form, Asawa is considered one of California’s most important artists. During World War II, Asawa and her family were interned in a concentration camp because of their Japanese heritage. Asawa later took wires, a material that had been used by the military to build camp fences, and formed them into poetic works of art. Kaplan will discuss Asawa’s unique artistic language and life events that led her to redefine the notion of sculpture.

This conversation observes the Los Angeles Day of Remembrance on February 19, which commemorates the wrongful incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.