Senga Nengudi

Episode No. 331 of The Modern Art Notes Podcast features artist Senga Nengudi.

Senga Nengudi came to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s with abstract sculpture made from common materials, work that was often fused with a performative element. Her work is the subject of two ongoing solo exhibitions and her work is included in one ongoing group exhibition:

• The University of Southern California Fisher Museum of Art is showing "Senga Nengudi: Improvisational Gestures" through April 14. The exhibition was curated by Elissa Author and Nora Burnett Abrams for the MCA Denver and the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs Gallery of Contemporary Art. The exhibition includes performance documentation, sculptures and two video works.
• The Baltimore Museum of Art is showing "Head Back & High: Senga Nengudi, Performance Objects (1976-2015)" through May 27. It focuses on Nengudi's sculpture and her collaborative performances with her friend and fellow artist Maren Hassinger. It was curated by Christopher Bedford with Cecelia Wichmann, and will travel to Art + Practice in Los Angeles this summer.
• Nengudi is included in "An Incomplete History of Protest: Selections from the Whitney's Collection, 1940-2017," an examination of how artists have addressed sociopolitical issues. It was curated by David Breslin, Jennie Goldstein and Rujeko Hockley with David Kiehl and Margaret Kross. It will remain on view indefinitely.

Listeners may wish to see more about Nengudi in the Hammer Museum's digital archive for the 2012 exhibition "Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles, 1960-80."

See images of work discussed on the program at manpodcast.com.