Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing
June 6–November 29, 2026
Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing will be the most significant retrospective of the work of Maren Hassinger, presenting her work across sculpture, performance, video, and installation from the early 1970s to the present. Hassinger’s work addresses social and cultural issues through an awareness of interconnectedness, ephemerality, and relationships between humans and the natural world. These themes emphasize the importance of caring for the things we share in contrast to the things that divide us. The exhibition will survey Hassinger’s expansive career, making connections across her practice and asserting her dynamic place in the history of contemporary art.
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Maren Hassinger, Tree Duet, 1977. Courtesy of Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC. Photo: Adam Avila
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Maren Hassinger, Leaning, 1980. Wire rope and wire, 16 in. high each (32 units); 432 in. dia. installation. Collection of the Museum Of Modern Art, NYC. Acquired through the generosity of The Modern Women's Fund and Ronnie Heyman, 2018. Courtesy of Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC.
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Maren Hassinger, documentation of performance Pink Trash, 1982. Courtesy of Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC. Photo: Horace Brockington.
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Maren Hassinger in her studio with works from her series On Dangerous Ground (1981). Courtesy of Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC. Photo: Adam Avila
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Maren Hassinger leading a newspaper twisting workshop Sign of the Times, Susan Inglett Gallery, New York, 2023. Courtesy of Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC.
- Upcoming
Films - Past
Films - Past
Events
Upcoming Events
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Select Wednesdays, Sundays, and Free First ThursdaysExhibition Tour: Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing
Graduate students offer exhibition tours on select Wednesdays at 12:15 PM, Sundays at 2 PM, and Free First Thursdays at 1:15 PM.
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Wednesday, June 24, 12:15 PMCurator’s Tour: Margot Norton on Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing
Join Chief Curator Margot Norton, co-curator with Senior Curator Anthony Graham, for a walkthrough of the exhibition, featuring Hassinger's material experiments in sculpture, her long-standing engagement with movement and performance, and her work with the moving image.
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Wrenching News Workshops
Participate in the creation of Wrenching News, an artwork featured in the exhibition Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing. Berkeley-based artist Julia Goodman will guide participants through the process of twisting and knotting newspapers according to Hassinger's specifications. The resulting collaborative artwork will be added to the installation, and grow throughout the course of the exhibition.
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Sunday, September 20, 2 PMPink Trash at Crescent Lawn, UC Berkeley
Maren Hassinger restages her iconic 1982 performance Pink Trash that explores the encounters between humans and nature set out in public space. Taking place on UC Berkeley’s Crescent Lawn, this performance marks the first iteration to include additional performers. Hassinger will be joined by six UC Berkeley students to perform the piece, highlighting the intergenerational obligations of our collective task to protect the natural world.
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Saturday, October 31, 1 PMSteffani Jemison and Leslie Cuyjet on Maren Hassinger and Senga Nengudi
Artist Steffani Jemison and choreographer Leslie Cuyjet perform a collaborative piece that reflects on the dynamic artistic relationship between Maren Hassinger and Senga Nengudi, the intense intimacy and attunement involved in longstanding artistic collaborations, and the powerful intergenerational legacy of the artists' collective works.
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Thursday, November 5, 1:15 PMCurator’s Tour: Anthony Graham on Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing
Senior Curator Anthony Graham offers a tour of Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing which he co-curated with Chief Curator Margot Norton. Author of the lead exhibition catalogue essay, Graham will explore the evolution of Hassinger's practice through her material experiments in sculpture, her long-standing engagement with movement and performance, and her work with the moving image.
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Saturday, November 21, 1–2:30 PMPanel on Hassinger’s Moving Image Work
BAMPFA will present several of Maren Hassinger’s video works, from documentation of her early performance works to her later, more cinematic works. Following the screening, a panel will discuss Hassinger’s unique approach to the moving image across her career. The panel will include catalogue contributors Robyn Farrell and Kristin Juarez in conversation with Leigh Raiford, Professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
Past Events
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Select Wednesdays, Sundays, and Free First ThursdaysExhibition Tour: Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing
Graduate students offer exhibition tours on select Wednesdays at 12:15 PM, Sundays at 2 PM, and Free First Thursdays at 1:15 PM.
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Sunday, June 7, 11 AM–5 PMFree Community Day Shuttle Bus: BAMPFA, UC Botanical Garden, Lawrence Hall of Science
On Free Community Day a complimentary shuttle bus between BAMPFA, the UC Botanical Garden, and overflow parking at the Lawrence Hall of Science will be available 11 AM–5 PM. Show your BAMPFA admission sticker for free access to the UC Botanical Garden to view Maren Hassinger's Monument (Pyramid).
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Sunday, June 7, 11 AM–7 PMFree Community Day / Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing
Join us for the opening weekend of Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing with free gallery admission for all! In addition, use your BAMPFA admission sticker to visit the Monument (Pyramid) public sculpture at the UC Botanical Garden. Complimentary shuttle bus between BAMPFA, the UC Botanical Garden, and overflow parking at the Lawrence Hall of Science will be available 11 AM–5 PM.
Free gallery admission all day
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Sunday, June 7, 11:30 AM–2 PMArt Making for All Ages
Drop in and make art in BAMPFA’s Crane Forum space, next to the Art Wall. Materials will be provided.
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Sunday, June 7, 2 PMCurator’s Tour: Omar Jason Farah on Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing
Join Curatorial Assistant Omar Jason Farah as they delve into the history of Hassinger's practice across her material experiments in sculpture, her long-standing engagement with movement and performance, and her work with the moving image.
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Saturday, June 6, 1:30 PMMaren Hassinger Tributes and Wrenching News Workshop
For the opening of Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing, the artist’s most comprehensive retrospective to date, central figures in Hassinger’s life and career offer tributes to the artist and her ongoing legacy. Tributes will be given by artists, curators, and art historians including Linda Goode Bryant, Ava Hassinger, Kellie Jones, Leslie King-Hammond, Senga Nengudi, and Lowery Stokes Sims.
Following these remarks, Hassinger will lead the audience in a newspaper twisting workshop titled Wrenching News.
Tickets required.
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June 6–November 29, 2026Public Sculpture | Monument (Pyramid) at the UC Botanical Garden
BAMPFA and the University of California Botanical Garden have partnered to realize the large-scale installation Monument (Pyramid) (2022/2026), on view at the UC Botanical Gardens through the run of the Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing exhibition. The outdoor sculpture was remade using redwood sticks directly from the UC Botanical Garden. The piece was collaboratively made by a group of BAMPFA staff and UC Botanical Garden volunteers.
On Free Community Day, Sunday, June 7, use your BAMPFA admission sticker to visit the sculpture for free. A complimentary shuttle bus between BAMPFA, the UC Botanical Garden, and overflow parking at the Lawrence Hall of Science will be available 11 AM–5 PM.
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Friday, June 5, 11 AM–7 PMPreview Day / Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing
BAMPFA members and UC Berkeley students, faculty, and staff enjoy early access to the new exhibition Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing.
For BAMPFA members and UC Berkeley students, faculty, and staff.