Senga Nengudi
Senga Nengudi
Senga Nengudi came to performance through her study of dance while she was a graduate student at California State University, Los Angeles, in the late 1960s. After traveling to Japan and New York, she returned to Los Angeles in the early 1970s and became an active member of an emerging community of African American artists whose work engaged with the radical political movements developing in the United States while moving toward the more abstract, dematerialized, and conceptual artistic modes of the period. It was at this point that Nengudi began to incorporate elements inspired by Japanese Gutai and Mono-ha, African ceremonial dress, African-American improvisation, and Western vernacular vocabularies into a new visual language that would result in her seminal R.S.V.P. series.
Nengudi, along with David Hammons, Maren Hassinger, and several other artists, formed a loosely structured group called Studio Z, where they collaborated and experimented with discarded and overlooked materials and forgotten spaces. They came together at Hammons’ studio on Slauson Avenue—a large former dance hall with a wooden floor—to engage in spontaneous actions, some of which were performed on the streets of the city. Soon after her son was born in 1974, Nengudi began to use secondhand pantyhose as her primary medium. She stretched the nylon garments into various forms across walls, frequently also extending them onto the floor, and then invited a collaborator (most often Hassinger) to “activate” the works, either through dance or other types of interactions and movements. In the words of the artist, “there is a charging that takes place, an activation of mutual energy, in concert with the sculpture.”
In the performance of Masking It, the artist tore off small pieces of masking tape from a roll and stuck them all over her body, from the top of her head—including her face—to her knees. Thus adorned, she moved about her studio, experiencing the "sensualness of the tape on her body in motion." Nengudi saw this “masking” of herself as a means to explore elements of her African heritage, including mask-making, dance, and other rites and rituals.
Nengudi has been featured in many significant exhibitions, including Vive Arte Vive, curated by Christine Macel, at the 57th Venice Biennale; Improvisational Gestures, a three year-long traveling retrospective of the artist's work which was organized in 2015 by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, and traveled to the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans; the DePaul Art Museum, Chicago; and the USC Fisher Museum, Los Angeles, among others. Nengudi's work was also included in the 54th Carnegie International, at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh in 2004-2005. In 2017, the solo exhibition Head Back and High: Senga Nengudi, Performance Objects (1976-2015) opened at the Baltimore Museum of Art, and traveled to Art + Practice, Los Angeles. The group exhibition We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85 opened at the Brooklyn Museum in 2017, and traveled to the Albright Knox, Buffalo; and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, opened the group exhibition West by Midwest, curated by Charlotte Ickes, in the fall of 2018, while in September of 2019 a retrospective of Nengudi's career, Senga Nengudi, will open at Lenbachhaus, Munich.
Nengudi's work is in the permanent collections of many major museums worldwide, including: The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; The Brooklyn Museum, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Hammer Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Tate Modern, London; and Jerusalem Museum of Art, Jerusalem.
Selected Works
Video
Senga Nengudi Venice Biennale 2017
June 29, 2017
Interview with Senga Nengudi (United States), one of the artists invited to participate in the 57th International Art Exhibition - Viva Arte Viva in 2017.
Exhibitions
Museum Exhibitions
Senga Nengudi: Topologies
May 2 - July 25, 2021
The Making of Husbands: Christina Ramberg in Dialogue
May 22 - September 6, 2020
Senga Nengudi: Topologies
May 1 - August 2, 2020
The Paradox of Stillness: Art, Object, and Performance
April 18 - July 26, 2020
The Making of Husbands: Christina Ramberg in Dialogue
February 14 - May 10, 2020
The Making of Husbands: Christina Ramberg in Dialogue
September 24, 2019 - January 5, 2020
Senga Nengudi: Topologies
September 17, 2019 - January 19, 2020
Artistic License: Six Takes on the Guggenheim Collection
May 24, 2019 - January 12, 2020
Senga Nengudi
December 1, 2017 - April 10, 2018
Head Back & High: Senga Nengudi, Performance Objects (1976 - 2015)
December 5, 2017 - May 27, 2018
Senga Nengudi: Improvisational Gestures
January 20 - April 14, 2018
Outliars and American Vanguard Art
January 28 - May 13, 2018
Soul of a Nation
February 3 - April 23, 2018
Publications
Selected Press
Artforum | Curator Lynne Cook's Year in Review
December 16, 2021
Numéro | 5 artistes chamboulent le corps féminin au MO.CO
November 24, 2021
The Brooklyn Rail | You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby: The Sapphire Show
July 1, 2021
Artblog | Senga Nengudi’s ‘Topologies’ at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Part 2
June 1, 2021
The New York Times | Gehry’s Quiet Interventions Reshape the Philadelphia Museum
May 30, 2021
6ABC | The Philadelphia Museum of Art has a new history-making exhibition
May 30, 2021
The Philadelphia Inquirer | Artist Senga Nengudi reflects on her exhibition in Philly, her largest to date
May 26, 2021
Arts Summary | Senga Nengudi: Topologies at Philadelphia Museum of Art, May 2 – July 25, 2021
May 1, 2021
Art in America | PULLED BODIES, FABRIC SPIRITS, AND CELEBRATION: SENGA NENGUDI’S ELUSIVE ART FINDS JOY IN THE EVERYDAY
April 28, 2021
Hyperallergic | Senga Nengudi: Topologies Opens May 2 at Philadelphia Museum of Art
April 23, 2021
Hyperallergic | Senga Nengudi: Topologies Opens May 2 at Philadelphia Museum of Art
April 23, 2021
The Wall Street Journal | ‘Knotted, Torn, Scattered: Sculpture After Abstract Expressionism’ Review: Mutable Materials
April 14, 2021
Communique | International Artist Senga Nengudi to be featured at Ent Center for the Arts
March 18, 2021
Forbes | In An Exhibition At The Denver Art Museum, Senga Nengudi Charts The Journey Of Her Own Body
December 29, 2020
The Know – The Denver Post | Denver Art Museum’s Senga Nengudi retrospective is as powerful as the artist herself
December 21, 2020
303 Magazine | Denver Art Museum Unveils Exhibition of Abstract Work by a Colorado Artist
December 17, 2020
Westword | Body Politics: Behind the DAM’s Senga Nengudi Restrospective
December 11, 2020
MoMA Magazine | Megan Randall on Senga Nengudi’s R.S.V.P. I
December 11, 2020
Westword | Art Attack: Ten Ways to See Art Live or Otherwise
December 9, 2020
Widewalls | A Response to Being Black - The Art of the Great Senga Nengudi
December 3, 2020
T: The New York Times Style Magazine | THE ARTISTS
April 23, 2020
Art in America | Senga Nengudi’s Works Stretch, Contract, and Breathe New Purpose Into Found Materials
February 24, 2020
Spike Art Magazine | Senga Nengudi at Lenbachhaus
November 21, 2019
Triumph der elastischen Frau
November 6, 2019
Inside Hook | A Practical Guide to the New, Improved Museum of Modern Art
November 6, 2019
Artsy | How Artists Reclaimed Pantyhose to Make Provocative Sculptures
October 4, 2019
The Guardian | Tights in art: why nylons are fetish and fantasy gold
October 1, 2019
Frieze | Highlights from ‘Various Others’ – Munich’s Gallery-Share Initiative
September 19, 2019
Apollo Magazine | WHAT'S ON: Senga Nengudi
September 19, 2019
Denver Post | Seen: Artist Nengudi honored at Bonfils-Stanton Foundation awards
June 5, 2019
The Skinny | Hold Water: Senga Nengudi's Solo Show in Edinburgh
March 12, 2019
Artforum | College Art Association Announces Its 2019 Award Recipients
January 18, 2019
The Baltimore Sun | Baltimore Museum of Art acquires 48 new works, some with funds from sale of major pieces
December 19, 2018
Ursula | Making Doors - Linda Goode Bryant in Conversation with Senga Nengudi
December 1, 2018
Makers & Founders | Senga Nengudi
November 15, 2018
Sculpture | "Senga Nengudi"
October 30, 2018
Frieze | Yield To Touch
October 15, 2018
Culture Type | Looking in London: 10 Exhibitions to See This Season Featuring Kerry James Marshall, Julie Mehretu, and Adam Pendleton Among Others
October 7, 2018
Hyperallergic | “Being Born Black in America Is a Political Act”: An Interview With Senga Nengudi
September 25, 2018
ARTnews | ‘Interrogate the World as It Is and Imagine How It Could Be’: Four Trailblazing Artists in ‘Soul of a Nation’ Discuss the Show and Their Careers
September 20, 2018
Artnet | Here Are 5 Women Artists Who Dominated Berlin Gallery Weekend, Despite Evidence of German Gender Bias
May 3, 2018
Los Angeles Times | Spring art exhibitions that transport to Laguna, Teotihuacan, Iran and beyond
March 22, 2018
Modern Art Notes Podcast | SENGA NENGUDI
March 8, 2018
The New York Times | A Groundbreaking Show Presents a New, Inclusive Vision of American Art
February 15, 2018
Vogue | The Women to Watch at Art Basel Miami
December 5, 2017
Chicago Tribune | Senga Nengudi stretches the limits of womanhood
September 20, 2017
The New York Times | The 10 Best Things We Saw at the Venice Biennale
May 16, 2017
Artnews | A Look at ‘Viva Arte Viva,’ the Hippie, Heal-the-World Venice Biennale
May 9, 2017
Flash Art | Christine Macel on VIVA ARTE VIVA / 57th Venice Biennale
May 3, 2017
Vogue | Beyond the French Quarter: Experiencing New Orleans Like a Local
April 25, 2017
Artsy | The 20 Best Booths at The Armory Show
March 2, 2017
Art News | Visions for Pantyhose and Sand: Senga Nengudi’s Booth at the Armory Show
March 2, 2017
The Seattle Times | Artist Senga Nengudi uses pantyhose in surprising ways
September 14, 2016
Artforum | Senga Nengudi
September 1, 2015
Hyperallergic | The Improvised Body: The Reemergence of Senga Nengudi
September 6, 2014
Artforum | Senga Nengudi
April 3, 2014
The New York Times | Senga Nengudi: ‘Performances 1976-81’
February 14, 2013
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