Senga Nengudi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Senga Nengudi
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Nengudi, circa 1980s
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Sue Irons
September 18, 1943 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
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| Alma mater | California State University, Los Angeles, Waseda University |
| Occupation | Artist, Sculptor, Curator, Dancer |
| Years active | 1960s–present |
| Known for | Visual art |
| Movement | Studio Z, Performance Art, Sculpture |
| Spouse(s) | Elliott Fittz |
| Awards | Nasher Prize Laureate 2023 |
Senga Nengudi (born Sue Irons on September 18, 1943) is an African-American artist and curator. She is famous for her unique sculptures made from everyday items and for her art performances. She was part of a group of new and exciting African-American artists in New York City and Los Angeles, starting in the 1960s.
In 2023, Senga Nengudi won the Nasher Prize for her amazing work in sculpture.
Contents
Growing Up and Learning
Senga Nengudi was born Sue Irons in Chicago, Illinois in 1943. When her father passed away in 1949, she moved to Los Angeles and Pasadena with her mother. At that time, schools were separated by race. This meant Senga had to switch between schools in Los Angeles and Pasadena often. Her cousin, Eileen Abdulrashid, is also an artist.
After finishing Dorsey High School, Senga studied art and dance. She went to California State University, Los Angeles in the 1960s and earned her bachelor's degree in 1967. She then spent a year studying at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. She wanted to learn more about the Gutai Art Association, a group of artists known for their exciting, new art.
In 1967, she returned to California State University. She received her Master of Arts degree in sculpture in 1971. While in college in 1965, she worked at the Watts Towers Art Center. There, she learned from Noah Purifoy, who was the director. She also taught art at the Pasadena Art Museum and the Fine Arts Community Workshop.
After college, she moved to New York City to continue her art career. She often traveled between New York City and Los Angeles. In 2016, she received an honorary arts degree from Colorado College. Today, she lives and works in Colorado Springs, Colorado with her husband, Elliott Fittz.
Her Art Career
Nengudi was a key part of the exciting and new Black art scenes in both New York City and Los Angeles. This was during the 1960s and 1970s. Another artist, Cheryl Banks, worked closely with Nengudi. They often wrote to each other about their art.
Senga worked with two special art galleries. One was Pearl C. Woods Gallery in Los Angeles, run by Greg Pitts. The other was Just Above Midtown (JAM) in New York City, led by Linda Goode Bryant. Nengudi said that working with these galleries was full of creative energy. These galleries were "trying to break down the walls" for Black artists.
Studio Z: Art and Performance
In the late 1970s, Nengudi worked with the Brockman Gallery. Here, she met Maren Hassinger. This program helped Nengudi and Hassinger create Ceremony for Freeway Fets. This was a performance with artists like David Hammons and Franklin Parker. They were all part of a group called Studio Z. This group was also known as the LA Rebellion. They were African American artists who liked to experiment and create art on the spot.
Hammons and Hassinger often worked with Nengudi on her art. Other members of Studio Z included Ronn Davis, Duval Lewis, RoHo, Barbara McCullough, Houston Conwill, and Joe Ray (artist). In 1978, Nengudi and Hassinger did a performance together. They moved around while tangled in a large web of pantyhose. This performance showed how women can feel limited by society's rules. Nengudi also took many staged photos during this time. She often appeared in them herself as a figure without a clear gender, showing that she defied simple labels.
Important Ideas in Her Art
Senga Nengudi's art often explores how we define culture, race, and gender. She combines art forms from African, Asian, and Native American cultures in her performances and photos. While her work highlights issues about gender, race, and ethnicity, it also shows how these issues affect everyone. Her art tries to inspire people from all cultures, both men and women.
She often says that African and Eastern ideas are very important to her work.
Key Artworks
R.S.V.P. Series (1975–1977)
In 1975, after her son was born, Nengudi noticed changes in her body. This inspired her to start her R.S.V.P. series. The name means "repondez s’il vous plait," which is French for "please respond." This series is what she is most known for.
She combined her love for movement and sculpture. She made abstract sculptures from everyday items through planned performances. These were either done live or captured on camera. The sculptures were made from things like pantyhose. Parts were stretched, twisted, tied in knots, and filled with sand. The finished sculptures were often hung on gallery walls but stretched across the room. She wanted people to be able to touch them.
For Nengudi, using pantyhose showed how flexible the human body is, especially a woman's body. These sculptures and her later performances with pantyhose showed a mix of feelings, race identity, body image, and how society affects women's bodies.
Even though she was very involved in the African American art community in Los Angeles, her "R.S.V.P." series did not get much public attention at first. Her close friend and art partner, David Hammons, thought it was because her art was abstract. This was different from most art popular with other artists in Los Angeles and New York. Some people in New York even felt she was not making "Black art."
Nengudi's "R.S.V.P." sculptures have been shown more recently in traveling art shows. These include Now Dig This! Art & Black Los Angeles 1960–1980 (from 2011–2013) and Blues for Smoke (2013).
Ceremony for Freeway Fets (1978)
Nengudi and members of the Studio Z group performed Ceremony for Freeway Fets in 1978. This took place under a freeway overpass on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles. Nengudi designed costumes and headpieces for the performers using pantyhose. Hammons and Hassinger played male and female spirits. Nengudi acted as a spirit to bring the genders together. Both the dance and the music, performed by Studio Z members, were made up on the spot.
Warp Trance (2007)
In 2007, Nengudi worked at The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia. For the first time, she used video art in her work. She visited textile mills and recorded videos and sounds of the machines working. She also collected objects like Jacquard punch cards. These cards were used to program special weaving machines.
In her final art piece, Nengudi projected the video onto a tall screen made of punch cards. The room had sounds from her audio recordings. This artwork explored ideas about technology, the politics of work, modern music, and the repeating movements of ritual dance.
Poetry and Curating
Besides her sculptures and performances, Nengudi also creates paintings, photographs, and poetry. She has also organized art shows for other artists. For example, she curated a solo show for Kira Lynn Harris in New York in 2009.
She writes poetry using different pen names, like Harriet Chin, Propecia Lee, and Lily B. Moor.
Art Shows and Exhibitions
Nengudi has had many solo art shows in galleries and museums. These include:
- Senga Nengudi (1971) at California State University, Los Angeles
- Vestige: The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus’ S.D. (1981) at Just Above Midtown Gallery in New York
- Warp Trance (2007) at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia
- Senga Nengudi: Improvisational Gestures (2015-2018), which started at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Galleries of Contemporary Art
- Head Back & High: Senga Nengudi, Performance Objects (1976 – 2015) (2018), which started at the Baltimore Museum of Art
She has also been part of many group shows, including the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017.
Famous Works in Public Collections
- Water Composition I (1970, remade 2019), Dia Art Foundation, Beacon, New York; and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
- R.S.V.P. (1975), Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
- R.S.V.P. Fall 1976 (1976, remade 2017), Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
- R.S.V.P. V (1976), Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
- R.S.V.P. X (1976, remade 2014), Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
- Swing Low (1976, remade 2014), Los Angeles County Museum of Art
- Untitled (1976), Museum of Modern Art, New York
- Inside/Outside (1977), Brooklyn Museum, New York
- Internal I (1977, remade 2014), Whitney Museum, New York
- Internal II (1977, remade 2015), Tate, London
- Performance with "Inside/Outside" (1977), Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
- R.S.V.P. I (1977, remade 2003), Museum of Modern Art, New York
- R.S.V.P. XI (1977, remade 2004), Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
- R.S.V.P. Reverie-"B" Suite (1977, remade 2011), Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
- Ceremony for Freeway Fets (1978), Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
- R.S.V.P. Performance Piece (1978, remade 2012), Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris
- Revery - R (2011), Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
- R.S.V.P. Reverie "Bow Leg" (2014), Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Images for kids
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R.S.V.P. I (1977/2003) at the Museum of Modern Art in 2022
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R.S.V.P. X (1976/2014) at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in 2022
