A sweeping survey of one of the most influential female artists of the past 50 years, Christopher Lyon’s Nancy Spero: The Work packs a powerful social and visual punch.
A feminist art movement pioneer, Spero promoted the notion of woman-as-protagonist, exposed the horrors of the Vietnam War, gave birth to expressive text-and-image art, and investigated issues of pain and torture in her innovative works on paper and daring installations. Mining the past while addressing her time, Spero put history into art and women into history.
Visit Spero’s Art:21 site, catch her traveling retrospective at London’s Serpentine Gallery, read her glowing New York Times’ obituary, and buy a copy of the Prestel book
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Click through below for a gallery of images from the book.
Nancy Spero, Victims Thrown from Helicopter, 1968. Cut-and-pasted painted paper, gouache, and ink on paper. 24 x 39 in. (61 x 99.1 cm). From the Prestel book Nancy Spero: The Work by Christopher Lyon
Nancy Spero, Homage to New York (I Do Not Challenge), 1958. Oil on canvas, 46 7/8 x 31 1/8 in. (119 x 79 cm). From the Prestel book Nancy Spero: The Work by Christopher Lyon
Nancy Spero, from The Cabaret, 1991. Cut-and pasted handprinted paper on paper, 4 panels, 20 in. x 36 ft. 8 in. (50.8 x 1,117.6 cm) overall. From the Prestel book Nancy Spero: The Work by Christopher Lyon
Nancy Spero, Codex Artaud VI, 1971. Cut-and-pasted typed text, painted paper, and gouache on paper, 20 1/2 in. x 10 ft. 4 1/2 in. (52.1 x 316.2 cm). From the Prestel book Nancy Spero: The Work by Christopher Lyon
Nancy Spero, Maypole Take No Prisoners II, 2008. Steel, silk, wood, nylon monofilament, handprint on aluminium. Dimensions variable, Installation view at Anthony Reynolds Gallery, Photograph: Dave Morgan. Courtesy of Estate of Nancy Spero and Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London
Nancy Spero, Frieze, 2001. Cut-and-pasted handprinted paper and handprinting on paper, 19 5/8 x 49 5/8 in. (50 x 126 cm). From the Prestel book Nancy Spero: The Work by Christopher Lyon
Nancy Spero Artaud Painting: This Crucible of Fire…, 1969. Gouache, ink, and collage on paper, 63.5 x 50.2 cm, Courtesy of Galerie de France, Paris
Nancy Spero, Female Bomb, 1966, Gouache and ink on paper, 86.4 x 68.6 cm, Collection of Barbara Lee, Cambridge, MA
Nancy Spero, Marduk, 1986. Ink, handprinting, and collage on paper, 60.9 x 914.4 cm, Courtesy of Collection G. & R. Mayer
Nancy Spero, Codex Artaud VII, 1971. Cut-and-pasted typed text and painted paper on paper, 20 1/2 in. x 12 ft. 6 in. (52.1 x 381 cm). From the Prestel book Nancy Spero: The Work by Christopher Lyon
Nancy Spero, Artaud Painting: Then There Will Be…, 1969. Gouache, ink, paint, and collage on paper, 63.5 x 53.3 cm, Courtesy of Estate of Nancy Spero and Galerie Lelong
Nancy Spero, Bomb and Victims, 1967. Gouache and ink on paper, 24 x 36 in. (61 x 91.4 cm). From the Prestel book Nancy Spero: The Work by Christopher Lyon