Gilane Tawadros Libros

A triumphant illustrated volume on the art of abstract sculptor Ruth Asawa, examining her contributions to modern art and education. Ruth Asawa is an artist of vital importance to modern art. Ruth Asawa: Citizen of the Universe, which accompanies the first public exhibition of Asawa’s work in Europe, introduces readers to Asawa’s work, including her signature hanging sculptures in looped and tied wire, and her pioneering education practice. It positions her expansive ethos—her self-identification as “a citizen of the universe” and belief that art education can be life enriching for everyone—as a catalyst for creative forward-thinking in the twenty-first century. Focusing on a dynamic and formative period in her life from 1945 to 1980, this book gives readers a unique experience of the artist and her work, exploring her legacy and positioning her as an abstract sculptor crucial to American modernism. It is a wonderful celebration of her holistic integration of art, education, and community engagement, through which she called for a revolutionary and inclusive vision of art’s role in society.

Published alongside an exhibition at Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art (22 September - 21 November 2010), the first solo exhibition in London that is dedicated to the work of Adel Abdessemed. Working across a wide range of different media, including sculpture, installation, video, photography and drawings, Abdessemed passionately tackles difficult subject matter and taboos within society and presents them as naked truth. Yet beyond their often challenging and provocative appearance, his works embody the fragility of life and are deeply imbued with beauty and poetry. Abdessemed's exhibition at Parasol unit highlights precisely the vulnerability and aesthetic sensitivity in the work of this important twenty-first-century artist. The exhibition is organised around two of his major works; Habibi, 2003, a 17 metre human skeleton made of fibreglass; and silent warrior, which includes numerous colourful masks made from found and empty tin cans from Africa, which once contained either food or toxic material. Abdessemed was born in Algeria in 1971 and now lives and works in Paris.