Trained as an art historian, Saggese's work focuses on modern and contemporary art with an emphasis on the expressions and theorizations of blackness. Saggese's writing has appeared in Exposure: The Journal of the Society for Photographic Education and nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art. She has published work online for Artforum, CAA Reviews, The International Review of African-American Art, and most recently "smarthistory.org." Her essay, "Appropriation in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," appeared in the catalogue for the international exhibition, Ménage à Trois: Warhol, Basquiat, Clemente (Bonn: Kunst-und Austellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, 2012).