Born in Los Angeles, CA, 1947
University of California, Los Angeles, MFA, 1973
Bennington College, BA, 1969
Lives and Works in New York, NY
MAREN HASSINGER (b. 1947) has built an expansive practice that articulates the relationship between nature and humanity. Carefully choosing materials for their innate characteristics, Hassinger has explored the subject of movement, family, love, nature, environment, consumerism, identity, and race. Wire rope has played a prominent role in Maren Hassinger’s artistic practice since the early 1970s when, as a sculptor placed in the Fiber Arts program at UCLA, Hassinger used the material to bridge the gap between the two disciplines. The artist often takes a biomimetic approach to her material, whether bundling it to resemble a monolithic sheaf of wheat or planting it in cement to create an industrial garden. Within the past five years, Hassinger has been commissioned to make work for Sculpture Milwaukee (curated by Ugo Rondinone), Dia Bridgehampton, Socrates Sculpture Park, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Aspen Art Museum. Her work is currently installed at Dia Beacon, on the terrace of the Art Institute of Chicago, and at Longhouse Reserve in East Hampton. Hassinger will be honored with an upcoming two-person survey alongside Senga Nengudi at IVAM, Valencia as well as an exhibition focused on their work in performance at the Cooley Gallery, Reed College, Portland, OR. The Berkeley Art Museum is preparing a full scale retrospective slated for 2026. Hassinger is the recipient of the Women’s Caucus for the Arts Lifetime Achievement Award. Her work can be found in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago; the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Museum of Modern Art, NYC; the San Francisco Museum of Art; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and the Whitney Museum, NYC, among others.