ABOUT THE EXHIBITION:

Colorado-based Senga Nengudi is a key figure of the Black Arts Movement in the 1970s and 1980s. Known primarily for performance-based art installations, her work focuses on movement and the human body, is multidisciplinary in nature and international in scope, with cultural references to Africa, the African diaspora and Asia. For her new multimedia, performance-based, site-specific solo exhibition Lov U, Nengudi explores the human physical senses from the perspective of the universal subject of love.

Her installation consists of mixed media (photographs, sculptures, videos, writings, sound and ephemeral material). Large photographs of Nengudi and her family in the vault set the tone for myriad definitions of love. Photographs taken by Syracuse community members and SU students accompany Nengudi’s work. A chapbook offers selections of definitions of love that Nengudi collected for this project, while the photography book pays homage to works done by the community that was created for this exhibition under Nengudi’s guidance.

The use of ephemeral material, in reference to life’s transience, has been Nengudi’s signature since the 1970s. A large heart in the main gallery made out of masking tape echoes the exhibitions’ theme. Two videos Hands (2012) and Dance (1986), again refer to the concept of love and to Nengudi’s work as a performance artist and choreographer. The body-as-resource has played a key role in her work since the 1970s, when she was among others who largely shaped today’s contemporary art scene. A recipient of prestigious awards such as the Anonymous Was a Woman Award, the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award and the 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award, Nengudi’s work is in many major collections including at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and has been exhibited extensively.

A gallery guide accompanies the exhibition with an essay by Anja Chávez. The catalog will be available at the gallery and online beginning Sept. 25.

For more information, visit thewarehousegallery.syr.edu

THE WAREHOUSE GALLERY is an international contemporary art venue of SUArt Galleries at Syracuse University. The gallery’s mission is to present exhibitions and programs by artists whose work engages the community in a dialogue regarding the role the arts can play in illuminating critical issues of our life and times.

For guided tours, large-group visits and/or interviews with the artists and curator, please contact the gallery via whginfo@syr.edu.

The Warehouse Gallery is accessible to wheelchair users via a street-level power-assist door adjacent to The Window Projects Gallery on W. Fayette St.  For more information or groups with special needs please contact the gallery staff at (315) 443-6450.

EVENT PARKING: Free parking for main event nights is provided in the WHSE Lot adjacent to the building. The lot is accessible via Washington Street. Check in with the guard at the booth; you will be directed where to park. On all other dates please use area parking lots or street parking. The Connective Corridor Free Shuttle (Centro #543) stops in front of the building on West Fayette Street, on a 40 min. loop. Visit https://connectivecorridor.syr.edu for more information. The Warehouse Shuttle/Centro #443 (between campus and the Warehouse Bld.) arrives in 10-20 min. intervals.