Internal II
Senga Nengudi
1977, Nylon tights
In this work, Selma Nengudi uses nylon tights – once a standard western marker of femininity and professionalism – as an art material. Tights were increasingly rejected as an indispensable garment, particularly by Black women for whom the standard ‘flesh’ tone was a reminder of a white standard of beauty. Black American women appreciating their own skin tones and acknowledging African lineage challenged convention. Nengudi called to mind a history specific to the Black female body: ‘I thought of Black wet-nurses suckling child after child ... My works are abstracted reflections of used bodies – visual images that serve my aesthetic decisions as well as my ideas.’
[Tate Modern]
Part of Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power (July to October 2017)
Internal II
Senga Nengudi
1977, Nylon tights
In this work, Selma Nengudi uses nylon tights – once a standard western marker of femininity and professionalism – as an art material. Tights were increasingly rejected as an indispensable garment, particularly by Black women for whom the standard ‘flesh’ tone was a reminder of a white standard of beauty. Black American women appreciating their own skin tones and acknowledging African lineage challenged convention. Nengudi called to mind a history specific to the Black female body: ‘I thought of Black wet-nurses suckling child after child ... My works are abstracted reflections of used bodies – visual images that serve my aesthetic decisions as well as my ideas.’
[Tate Modern]
Part of Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power (July to October 2017)