Senga Nengudi

Senga Nengudi. Photo: Ron Pollard

Senga Nengudi’s (*1943) media-spanning oeuvre situates itself at the threshold of sculpture and object-related performance, making a crucial contribution to postminimalism. Known for abstract-poetic work that uses such ordinary materials as nylon stockings, the Colorado Springs-based artist casts new light on the relationship between work and viewer while critically exploring socio-political realities.

A distinguishing feature of Nengudi’s art is its radical opening to the everyday world. Some of her earliest works include pieces that viewers were meant to actively interact with in psychological, affective and discursive ways. One example is her Water Compositions series from the late 1960s and ‘70s, which consisted of heat-sealed vinyl casings filled with colored water. Smaller compositions of this type were displayed on a pedestal, and viewers were encouraged to activate them by picking them up, pressing or shaking them. Larger Water Compositions were attached to the exhibition walls with ropes, their appearance ultimately determined by gravity. Among other things, these sculptures engaged the viewer’s physical sensations, altering the unconscious relationship between the viewer’s body and the amorphous physicality of the objects.

This assemblage of material and body sits at the crux of Nengudi’s practice. It is also evident in her now-iconic R.S.V.P. series, which the artist has been working on since 1975. R.S.V.P. consists of women’s hosiery that has been stretched, knotted, filled with sand and tethered to various points in the exhibition space. The resulting kinetic sculptures become tactile, haptic sites for dance performances by Nengudi’s long-time collaborator Maren Hassinger.

The use of nylon stockings is coded in terms of both gender and ethnicity. Although explicitly made for women, many African American men have also used them to protect and care for their hair. The inherent physicality of the works—some of their elements recall flabby human body parts—is reinforced by the fact that the nylons have already been worn, i.e. shaped, stretched and abraded by various bodies. Nengudi herself once noted that she began working on the R.S.V.P. objects after gaining a new appreciation for the elasticity and resistance of her body and psyche after the birth of her first child. Consequently, these works can also be read as symbols of resilience and stamina. They point to social, gender and ethnic tensions and illustrate the ever-present attempt to alter the shape of female bodies in line with societal fantasies.

Nengudi’s nuanced practice continues to draw on a range of influences including Fluxus, the Gutai group and Happenings, the cultures of free jazz, spoken word, but also Yoruba mythology, Japanese Noh theater and African ritual practices. Her openness to dialogue with other cultures and art forms is a core feature of her work. This receptivity also comes through in such legendary performances as Ceremony for Freeway Fets (1978), a happening with artist friends under a highway bridge, or in more recent works including the video Side by Side (2006), in which she and Maren Hassinger perform collaboratively developed dance pieces. Nengudi’s works speak an artistic language that evokes the gravitas and seriousness of human experience—yet they also have a tangible spiritual presence conjured by the post-dramatic theatricality of cultural codes, as well as a distinct lightness of touch.

Senga Nengudi
Performance Piece
Activated by Julie Anne Stanzak of Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch at Lenbachhaus, Munich
Violin: Alexander Bălănescu
Courtesy Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau, Munich

Works

Senga Nengudi
Sandminding C, 2026

Senga Nengudi
Sandminding C, 2026
Sand, stone, nylon, shells, paper, pigments, metal, rubber, video, and sound (by Gideon Crevoshay).
Dimensions variable. Installation at Den Frie Copenhagen, 2026:
240 × 670 × 220 cm | 94 1/2 × 263 7/8 × 86 5/8 inches

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Senga Nengudi
R.S.V.P. Reverie 'Scribe', 2014

Senga Nengudi
R.S.V.P. Reverie 'Scribe', 2014
Nylon mesh, sand and found metals
231 × 137 × 170 cm | 91 × 54 × 67 inches

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Senga Nengudi
Ceremony for Freeway Fets, 1978

Senga Nengudi
Ceremony for Freeway Fets, 1978
C-print
8 horizontal photographs, each: 30 × 45 cm | 12 × 18 inches
1 horizontal photograph: 34 × 44.5 cm | 14 × 17 1/2 inches
2 vertical photographs, each: 45 × 30 cm | 18 × 12 inches

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Senga Nengudi
Performance with Inside/Outside, 1977

Senga Nengudi
Performance with Inside/Outside, 1977
Silver gelatin print
Photographer: Ken Peterson
101.6 × 76.2 cm | 40 × 30 inches

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Senga Nengudi
Up Up Up Spreading Wide, 2019

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Senga Nengudi
Masked Taping, 1978/79

Senga Nengudi
Masked Taping, 1978/79
Contact sheet, silver gelatin prints
101.6 × 83.2 cm | 40 × 33 inches
101.6 × 76.2 cm | 40 × 30 inches
101.6 × 76.2 cm | 40 × 30 inches

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Senga Nengudi
Blossom, 2014

Senga Nengudi
Blossom, 2014
Nylon mesh and metal
184 × 26 × 19 cm | 72 3/8 × 10 1/4 × 7 1/2 inches

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Senga Nengudi
Twins, ca. 1972/2023

Senga Nengudi
Twins, ca. 1972/2023
Nylon
215.9 × 88.9 cm | 85 × 35 inches

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Senga Nengudi
Bulemia, 1990/2018

Senga Nengudi
Bulemia, 1990/2018
Newspaper and gold spray-paint
308 × 424 × 429 cm | 121 1/4 × 167 × 169 inches

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Senga Nengudi
Down (Purple), Red Devil (soul 2), Drifting Leaves, 1972

Senga Nengudi
Down (Purple), Red Devil (soul 2), Drifting Leaves, 1972
C-prints, triptych
Photo: Doug Harris
105.4 × 70.8 × 4.8 cm each | 41 1/2 × 27 7/8 × 1 7/8 inches each (framed)

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Senga Nengudi
The Threader, 2007

Senga Nengudi
The Threader, 2007
Digital video, color, sound
5:23 min

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Senga Nengudi
Water Composition III, 1969–70/2018

Senga Nengudi
Water Composition III, 1969–70/2018
Heat sealed vinyl, coloured water, rope
91 × 120 × 73 cm | 35 7/8 × 47 1/4 × 28 3/4 inches

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Senga Nengudi
Flying, 1982/2014

Senga Nengudi
Flying, 1982/2014
8 Digital prints
6 horizontal prints, each: 51 × 61 cm | 20 × 24 inches
2 vertical prints, each: 61 × 51 cm | 24 × 20 inches

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Senga Nengudi
Studio performance with R.S.V.P., 1976

Senga Nengudi
Studio performance with R.S.V.P., 1976
Silver gelatin print
73.7 × 101.6 cm | 29 × 40 inches

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Senga Nengudi
Rapunzel, 1981

Senga Nengudi
Rapunzel, 1981
Silver gelatin print
101.6 × 76.2 cm | 40 × 30 inches

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Senga Nengudi
Performance Piece, 1978

Senga Nengudi
Performance Piece, 1978
Silver gelatin prints, triptych
101.6 × 80 cm | 40 × 31 1/2 inches
80 × 101.6 cm | 31 1/2 × 40 inches
80 × 101.6 cm | 31 1/2 × 40 inches
Installation: 168.9 × 189.2 cm | 66 1/2 × 74 1/2 inches

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Details

Senga Nengudi
Sandminding C, 2026

Senga Nengudi
R.S.V.P. Reverie 'Scribe', 2014
Nylon mesh, sand and found metals
231 × 137 × 170 cm | 91 × 54 × 67 inches

Senga Nengudi
R.S.V.P. Reverie 'Scribe', 2014

Senga Nengudi
R.S.V.P. Reverie 'Scribe', 2014 (detail)

Senga Nengudi
Ceremony for Freeway Fets, 1978

Senga Nengudi
Ceremony for Freeway Fets, 1978 (detail)

Senga Nengudi
Performance with Inside/Outside, 1977
Silver gelatin print
Photographer: Ken Peterson
101.6 × 76.2 cm | 40 × 30 inches

Senga Nengudi
Performance with Inside/Outside, 1977

Senga Nengudi
Up Up Up Spreading Wide, 2019

Senga Nengudi
Up Up Up Spreading Wide, 2019
Mixed media installation
Dimensions variable
Installation dimensions at Art Basel Unlimited:
400 × 570 × 506 cm | 157 1/2 × 224 3/4 × 199 1/8 inches

Senga Nengudi
Up Up Up Spreading Wide, 2019

Senga Nengudi
Up Up Up Spreading Wide, 2019 (detail)

Senga Nengudi
Masked Taping, 1978/79
Contact sheet, silver gelatin prints
101.6 × 83.2 cm | 40 × 33 inches
101.6 × 76.2 cm | 40 × 30 inches
101.6 × 76.2 cm | 40 × 30 inches

Senga Nengudi
Masked Taping, 1978/79

Senga Nengudi
Masked Taping, 1978/79 (detail)

Senga Nengudi
Blossom, 2014
Nylon mesh and metal
184 × 26 × 19 cm | 72 3/8 × 10 1/4 × 7 1/2 inches

Senga Nengudi
Blossom, 2014

Senga Nengudi
Blossom, 2014 (detail)

Senga Nengudi
Twins, ca. 1972/2023
Nylon
215.9 × 88.9 cm | 85 × 35 inches

Senga Nengudi
Twins, ca. 1972/2023

Senga Nengudi
Bulemia, 1990/2018
Newspaper and gold spray-paint
308 × 424 × 429 cm | 121 1/4 × 167 × 169 inches

Senga Nengudi
Bulemia, 1990/2018

Senga Nengudi
Bulemia, 1990/2018 (detail)

Senga Nengudi
Down (Purple), Red Devil (soul 2), Drifting Leaves, 1972
C-prints, triptych
Photo: Doug Harris
105.4 × 70.8 × 4.8 cm each | 41 1/2 × 27 7/8 × 1 7/8 inches each (framed)

Senga Nengudi
Down (Purple), Red Devil (soul 2), Drifting Leaves, 1972

Senga Nengudi
The Threader, 2007
Digital video, color, sound
5:23 min

Senga Nengudi
The Threader, 2007

Senga Nengudi
The Threader, 2007 (film still)

Senga Nengudi
Water Composition III, 1969–70/2018
Heat sealed vinyl, coloured water, rope
91 × 120 × 73 cm | 35 7/8 × 47 1/4 × 28 3/4 inches

Senga Nengudi
Water Composition III, 1969–70/2018

Senga Nengudi
Water Composition III, 1969–70/2018 (detail)

Senga Nengudi
Flying, 1982/2014
8 Digital prints
6 horizontal prints, each: 51 × 61 cm | 20 × 24 inches
2 vertical prints, each: 61 × 51 cm | 24 × 20 inches

Senga Nengudi
Flying, 1982/2014

Senga Nengudi
Flying, 1982/2014 (detail)

Senga Nengudi
Studio performance with R.S.V.P., 1976
Silver gelatin print
73.7 × 101.6 cm | 29 × 40 inches

Senga Nengudi
Studio performance with R.S.V.P., 1976

Senga Nengudi
Rapunzel, 1981
Silver gelatin print
101.6 × 76.2 cm | 40 × 30 inches

Senga Nengudi
Rapunzel, 1981

Senga Nengudi
Performance Piece, 1978

Senga Nengudi
Performance Piece, 1978 (detail)

Details

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Current and Upcoming

Senga Nengudi, Water Composition I, 1967–70/2019
Installation view, Dia Beacon, New York, 2026. Photo: Thomas Barratt

Senga Nengudi
Sand and Water
Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen
Through September 13, 2026

For more than five decades, Senga Nengudi has developed a distinctive practice that moves across sculpture, performance, dance, and language, connecting humble everyday materials with philosophical and spiritual ideas. Her works are at once abstract, anthropomorphic, and vibrant. Pointing to social and political conditions without ever becoming illustrative, they instead insist on the spontaneous and existential encounter between artwork and viewer, grounded in a profound belief in the potential of every human being. Senga Nengudi is a central figure in recent American art history. In recent years, her works have been the focus of several major exhibitions across Europe and South America. Sand and Water is Senga Nengudi’s first solo exhibition in Denmark and the Nordic region and has been developed in close collaboration with the artist.

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Exhibitions at Sprüth Magers

10 Years LA!
May 15–August 15, 2026
Los Angeles

Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers are pleased to present 10 Years LA!, an exhibition celebrating the gallery’s decade-long presence in Los Angeles. Since opening its doors in February 2016, the gallery has featured solo and group exhibitions debuting new works by its iconic LA-based artists as well as major installations by artists from around the world, often bringing their work to the city for the very first time. Illustrating this expansive approach, 10 Years LA! fills not only the 10,000 square feet of the gallery at 5900 Wilshire Boulevard with works by a wide cross-section of Sprüth Magers artists, but also extends to the former Sizzler restaurant at 6145 Wilshire with an installation focusing on film and video.

10 Years LA! features the work of, among others, Kenneth Anger, Richard Artschwager, John Baldessari, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Gretchen Bender, Cao Fei, George Condo, Hanne Darboven, Thomas Demand, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Thea Djordjadze, Lucy Dodd, Peter Fischli David Weiss, Sylvie Fleury, Cyprien Gaillard, Gilbert & George, Andreas Gursky, Nancy Holt, Jenny Holzer, Gary Hume, Anne Imhof, Robert Irwin, Arthur Jafa, Craig Kauffman, Karen Kilimnik, Joseph Kosuth, Barbara Kruger, David Lamelas, Louise Lawler, Mire Lee, Anthony McCall, Robert Morris, Reinhard Mucha, Senga Nengudi, David Ostrowski, Otto Piene, Michail Pirgelis, Gala Porras-Kim, Stephen Prina, Jon Rafman, Bridget Riley, Pamela Rosenkranz, Sterling Ruby, Ed Ruscha, Analia Saban, David Salle, Thomas Scheibitz, Andreas Schulze, Cindy Sherman, Stephen Shore, Martine Syms, Ryan Trecartin, Rosemarie Trockel, Nora Turato, Kaari Upson, Kara Walker, John Waters, Andro Wekua, and Andrea Zittel.

Senga Nengudi
Spirit Crossing
May 17–July 28, 2023
New York

Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers are honored to present an exhibition at the New York gallery that illuminates in-depth Senga Nengudi’s Spirit Flags, an important body of work created by the artist while working in New York in the early 1970s. These evocative works comprise boldly colored fabrics cut into the form of human-sized silhouettes, which Nengudi then affixed with ropes to the walls and edges of rooms, and even staged outdoors in alleyways and across fire escapes. Beautifully staged photographs of Nengudi's Spirit Flags strung in outdoor and indoor locations, shot in 1972, will be on view alongside a selection of sculptural Spirit Flags recreated by the artist for the first time in four decades.

The exhibition is presented jointly with Thomas Erben Gallery.

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Senga Nengudi
Senga Nengudi: Screening and Conversation
December 10–December 11, 2020

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Senga Nengudi
August 18, 2020–January 13, 2021
Los Angeles

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Senga Nengudi
June 7–July 13, 2019
London

The work of Senga Nengudi has been at the forefront of sculptural, performative, and photographic practices for over forty years. Using simple materials in innovative, unexpected ways, Nengudi’s compositions evoke a rich array of references, from subtle allusions to the body, to feminist considerations of space and movement, to the confluence of different cultural and religious rituals. With equal parts rigor and grace, they encourage us to rethink our relationship to the people and world around us.

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Senga Nengudi
April 28–September 8, 2018
Berlin

For over four decades, artist Senga Nengudi has been pushing at the boundaries between sculpture, photography, and performance. The exhibition features four recent sculptures from Nengudi’s celebrated R.S.V.P series, which the artist first began in the late 1970s in response to her changing pregnant body. Using nylon stockings, sand, and metal objects, Nengudi generates delicate, webbed and knotted forms that stretch across walls, from one wall to another, or from the wall to the floor. Though decidedly abstract, each sculpture assumes bodily stances and proportions.

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POWER
Beverly Buchanan, Elizabeth Catlett, Sonya Clark, Renee Cox, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Karon Davis, Minnie Evans, Nona Faustine, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Ellen Gallagher, Leslie Hewitt, Clementine Hunter, Steffani Jemison, Jennie C. Jones, Simone Leigh, Julie Mehretu, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Senga Nengudi, Lorraine O'Grady, Sondra Perry, Howardena Pindell, Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, Joyce J. Scott, Emmer Sewell, Ntozake Shange, Xaviera Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Shinique Smith, Renee Stout, Alma Woodsey Thomas, Mickalene Thomas, Rosie Lee Tompkins, Unknown, Kara Walker, Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, Carrie Mae Weems, Brenna Youngblood
Work By African American Women From The Nineteenth Century To Now
March 28–June 10, 2017
Los Angeles

Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, is proud to present POWER, an exhibition curated by Todd Levin that surveys the work of African American women artists from the nineteenth century to now. Titled after the 1970 gospel song by Sister Gertrude Morgan, the exhibition begins with artists born soon after the Civil War and continues to the present, weaving together fine and folk art traditions to explore how artists have engaged issues of race, gender, and class against our evolving cultural and artistic landscape. The 37 artists in POWER draw into focus their struggle to establish themselves as equal players on the uneven field of the American republic.

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Press

Pulled Bodies, Fabric Spirits, and Celebration: Senga Nengudi’s Elusive Art Finds Joy in the Everyday
Art in America, Online, article by Alex Greenberger, April 28, 2021

Individual Collective: A Conversation with Senga Nengudi
Walker Art Center, article by Allie Tepper, March 2020

“Being Born Black in America Is a Political Act”: An Interview With Senga Nengudi
Hyperallergic, interview by Anna Souter, September 26, 2018

The Improvised Body: The Reemergenc of Senga Nengudi
Hyperallergic, article by Noel Black, September 6, 2014

Senga Nengudi’s “Ceremony for Free way Fets” and Other Los Angeles Collaborations
East of Borneo, article by Nick Stillman, December 7, 2011

Yield to Touch
Frieze, article by Osei Bonsu, October 2018

Biography

Senga Nengudi (*1943, Chicago) lives and works in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She is the winner of the Rauschenberg Centennial Award (2026) and the Nasher Prize for Sculpture (2023). Recent solo exhibitions include Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Whitechapel Gallery, London (both 2026) Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM), Columbus Museum of Art at The Pizzuti (both 2025), Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College, Portland (2024), Dia Beacon (2023), Philadelphia Museum of Art (2021), Denver Art Museum (2020), Museu de Arte de São Paulo (2020), Lenbachhaus, Munich (2019), Henry Moore Institute, Leeds (2018), Baltimore Museum of Art (2018), and Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (2017). Recent group exhibitions include those at MoMA PS1, Long Island, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, (both 2026) The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (both 2025), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2024), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (both 2022), Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (both 2021), Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2020), Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (both 2018), Brooklyn Museum, New York, and 57th La Biennale di Venezia (both 2017).

Education

1971	California State University, Los Angeles
1967	Waseda University, Tokyo
1966	California State University, Los Angeles

Awards, Grants and Fellowships

2026	Rauschenberg Centennial Award
2023	Nasher Prize for Sculpture, Dallas
2020	Elected as member to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge
2019	DAM Key Award, Denver Art Museum
	CAA Award: Distinguished Feminist Award – Visual Artist
	Leadership Award for Outstanding Contribution to Colorado’s Arts Community, Bonfils-Stanton Foundation
2017	Rauschenberg Foundation Artist in Residence, Captiva, Florida
2016	United States Artist 10th Anniversary Fellowship – USA Ford Fellow
	La Napoule Foundation Artist in Residence, La Napoule, France
	Colorado College Honorary Degree Recipient
2015	Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, New York – Artist in Residence
2014	Art Matters Grant, New York
2013	Arts Advocacy Award, Arts Business Education Awards, Pikes Peak Art Council, Colorado Springs
2011	Artist in Residence, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
2010	Lifetime Achievement Award, Women’s Caucus for the Arts, New York
2009	Panelist, Black Women, But Are They Feminist?, College Art Association, Los Angeles
2008	Panelist, Modern Art in Los Angeles: African-American Avant-Garde, 1965–1990, Getty Center, Los Angeles
2006	Artist in Residence, Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia
2005	Anonymous Was A Woman Award, Philanthropy Advisors, New York
	Biennial Award, Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, New York
	Finalist, Ordway Prize, Penny McCall Foundation, New York
	Invitational Artist Residency, “Kamp Kippy” Acadia Summer Arts Program, Mount Desert
2002	Website of the week awarded to www.mountainmovingday.org, Artwomen.org
2001	Panelist, The Black Aesthetic: 1960–2001, University of California, Riverside
	Guest Speaker, The State of Feminism in Visual Culture, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
2000	Visiting Artist, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore
1997	Visiting Artist, School of Art & Art History, University of Illinois, Chicago
	Visiting Artist, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore
1996	Guest Curator, Whisper! Stomp! Shout! A Salute to African American Performance Art, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
1994	Distinguished Service Award, Board of Regents, University of Colorado
1991	Co-President, Performing Arts for Youth Organization, Colorado Springs
1986	Co-Curator with Charles Abramson, 1+1=3, Gallery 1199, New York
1974	Set Designer, Dead Center, Sounds in Motion Dance Co., New York
	Grant (Sculpture), Creative Artists Public Service Program (CAPS), New York State Council on the Arts
1965	Orchesis Dance Scholarship

Public Collections

Baltimore Museum of Art

Brooklyn Museum, New York

Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

Centre Pompidou, Paris

Dallas Museum of Art

Denver Art Museum

Dia Art Foundation, New York

Hammer Museum, Los Angeles

Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston

Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia

The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Migros Museum, Zurich

Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

Museum of Fine Art, Houston

Museum Ludwig, Cologne

Museum of Modern Art, New York

Muzeum Susch, Switzerland

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Princeton University Museum

Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA

Seattle Art Museum

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München, Sammlung KiCo, Munich

Studio Museum in Harlem, New York

Tate Modern, London

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

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