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Ceremony for Freeway Fets

1978

American, born 1943

These photographs document a performance in which Nengudi installed one of her well-known nylon sculptures under a Los Angeles freeway overpass. She then invited a group of artists from the Black Los Angeles avant-garde, along with drummers, flutists, and dancers, to loosely direct a ceremonial performance to animate the vacant urban space as “an African village.”

Chromogenic prints

Framed dimensions:

8 prints: 13 x 19 in. (33 x 48.3 cm)

1 print: 14 1/4 x 18 1/2 in. (36.2 x 47 cm)

2 prints: 19 x 13 in. (48.3 x 33 cm)

Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis Acquisition Fund for Global and Contemporary Art

2021.15

Provenance: The artist; [Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, California]; purchased from gallery by Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2021

Photo: Timo Ohler

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistoryChicago, Illinois, DePaul Art Museum, Senga Nengudi: Improvisational Gestures, Sept. 7 - Dec. 10, 2017.

Hertfordshire, England, Henry Moore Foundation, Senga Nengudi, Aug. 20, 2018 - Feb. 10, 2019 (Edinburgh, Scotland, The Fruitmarket Gallery, Mar. 15 - May 26, 2019).

Rennes, France, Les Ateliers de Rennes, À Cris Ouverts, The 6th edition of Les Ateliers de Rennes - Contemporary Art Biennal, Sept. 27, 2018 - Dec. 2, 2019.

Munich, Germany, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Senga Nengudi: Topologies, Sept. 17, 2019 - Jan. 19, 2020 (São Paulo, Brazil, Museo de Arte de São Paulo, Sept. 8 - Nov. 15, 2020; Denver, Colorado, Denver Art Museum, Dec. 13, 2020 - Apr. 11, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, May 1 - July 25, 2021). [Ceremony for Freeway Fets on view in Munich, São Paulo, and Philadelphia only.]

Oakville, Canada, Oakville Galleries, Hourglass, Jan. 19 - Apr. 10, 2021.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Reverberations: Contemporary Art and Modern Classics, Dec. 22, 2022 - ongoing.

Published ReferencesNick Stillman, “Senga Nengudi’s Ceremony for Freeway Fets and Other Los Angeles Collaborations,” East of Borneo, Dec. 7, 2011, https://eastofborneo.org/articles/senga-nengudis-ceremony-for-freeway-fets-and-other-los-angeles-collaborations.

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