Since the 1960s, Senga Nengudi’s work has engaged feminist considerations of space through material experiments and performative rituals. She is best known for a body of work developed in the 1970s which animates sculptural arrangements of everyday materials with elements of dance and improvisation; her R.S.V.P. series, which employs hosiery and sand in dynamic tension, has achieved iconic status within both the Feminist and Black Arts Movements. Yet despite this recognition, Nengudi is largely understudied and underrepresented in art collections. Dia Art Foundation will present an exhibition at the Beacon space that will eschew the familiar work in favor of a focused presentation of three ambitiously-scaled projects that will introduce audiences to the complexity and depth of her practice.
Senga Nengudi
- Institution
- Dia Art Foundation
- Grant Cycle
- Spring 2021
- Amount
- $75,000
- Type of Grant
- Exhibition Support

Senga Nengudi, "Sandmining B," 2020. Sand, pigment, car parts, nylon mesh and sound. Sound piece by Lily Bea Moor, "Only Love Can Make It Right" (2020). Trumpet Composition: Butch Morris. Action Verbs: Senga Nengudi. Masking It Riff: Sanza Pyatt Fittz. Dimensions variable. © Senga Nengudi, 2022. Courtesy Sprüth Magers and Thomas Erben Gallery, New York.

Senga Nengudi, "Sandmining B," 2020 (detail). Sand, pigment, car parts, nylon mesh and sound. Sound piece by Lily Bea Moor, "Only Love Can Make It Right" (2020). Trumpet Composition: Butch Morris. Action Verbs: Senga Nengudi. Masking It Riff: Sanza Pyatt Fittz. Dimensions variable. © Senga Nengudi, 2022. Courtesy Sprüth Magers and Thomas Erben Gallery, New York.

Senga Nengudi, "Sandmining B," 2020 (detail). Sand, pigment, car parts, nylon mesh and sound. Sound piece by Lily Bea Moor, "Only Love Can Make It Right" (2020). Trumpet Composition: Butch Morris. Action Verbs: Senga Nengudi. Masking It Riff: Sanza Pyatt Fittz. Dimensions variable. © Senga Nengudi, 2022. Courtesy Sprüth Magers and Thomas Erben Gallery, New York.

"Senga Nengudi with Water Composition II," ca. 1970.
Courtesy Tilton Gallery, New York.

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, 2022. Photo: Stephen White. Courtesy Sprüth Magers and Thomas Erben Gallery, New York.

Senga Nengudi, "Water Composition III," 1969–70/2018 (detail). Heat sealed vinyl, coloured water, rope. 91 × 120 × 73 cm. 35 7/8 × 47 1/4 × 28 3/4 inches. Courtesy Sprüth Magers and Thomas Erben Gallery, New York.

Senga Nengudi, "Water Composition (Orange)," 1969–70/2018, Heat sealed vinyl, colored water. 2 × 97 × 40 cm. 7/8 × 38 1/8 × 15 3/4 inches. © Senga Nengudi, 2022. Photo: Stephen White. Courtesy Sprüth Magers and Thomas Erben Gallery, New York.
See Also
“Art is what you can get away with.”
Andy Warhol