The Ruth Asawa Retrospective may have moved from San Francisco to New York, but a particularly fascinating exhibit of her work remains in the Bay Area. The Cantor Art Center at Stanford University is hosting The Faces of Ruth Asawa. This collection contains the masks that she made and hung in her home. While Asawa is best known for her wire mesh sculptures, she also experimented in many other forms. As the exhibit explains, she made masks of friends, family, and others for over 30 years.
When I went to see it, I was struck by the variety of people allowed her to make masks of her face. One can understand having her family and friends. Surprisingly, she captured the faces of powerful people like Cyril Magnin. The information desk person told me that I should look for Willie Brown’s mask. Willie Brown was a former mayor of San Francisco and Speaker of the California Assembly.
The masks are mounted together on a wall as shown below. The Cantor Art Center of Stanford University is located at 328 Lomita Drive, Stanford California. In addition to the Faces of Ruth Asawa, Stanford also hosts an online archive of her papers.
