Embrace

Senga Nengudi's sculpture-performances, particularly the iconic R.S.V.P series, started in 1976, are characterized by a dynamic tension. Composed mainly of pantyhose, they articulate material, body, and gesture to create spaces conducive to encounter. The elasticity of nylon and sand, used to weigh down and adjust the elements, orchestrate a compositional interplay: form emerges in its provisional materiality and is made effective through action. The materials, deliberately associated with the Black female body, evoke resilience and suppleness. In Nengudi’s hands, sculpture becomes an expanded practice, intertwining with the body in a relationship of mutual dependence.

By casting these forms in bronze, Nengudi renders her gesture in a more durable material, while maintaining the tensions between density and lightness, rigidity and flexibility. The title Reverie – Embrace highlights the reflective nature of the work: an embrace frozen in permanence.

This work is held by the Pinault Collection and was first presented at the "Corps et âmes" at the Bourse de Commerce in 2025.