This is an audio clip from a cell phone tour by Guide by Cell to accompany the exhibition The Sculpture of Ruth Asawa: Contours in the Air at the Japanese American National Museum from March 10 - May 27, 2007. Ruth Asawa is a well-known and talented artist, specializing in woven wire art pieces. She is one of the most influential women artists of the 20th century.

This clip was narrated by Karin Higa, Senior Curator of Art at the Japanese American National Museum, in March 2007.

Transcription
So, I wanted to tell you a little bit about Ruth Asawa. She was born to Japanese immigrants on a farm in Norwalk here in Southern California. And, she is one of the country’s pioneering modernist sculptors, somebody who invented a radical and innovative sculptural language of abstract wire forms.

Ruth Asawa is considered an artistic treasure in the San Francisco Bay area, but in many sectors of the current world of art, she is being held as a new discovery, somebody to watch. However, Ruth has had a long career and lots of prior recognition. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, her wire sculptures were regularly shown throughout the country. She was the recipient of prestigious art prizes and awards, including prominent commissions and selection as a United States representative to the 1955 Sao Paulo Bienal.

In 1956, the Whitney Museum of American Art acquired a looped wire piece for its permanent collection. In 1960, the de Young Museum held a solo exhibition of her work, followed in the 1970’s by a retrospective at the San Francisco Museum of Art, which is now known as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.