NANCY SPERO – The superfeminist artist

Stephan Reusse
Nancy Spero, 1989
Foto på lin, akrylmaling
Courtesy Galerie Inge Baecker, Bad Münstereifel
© BONO 2020 

NANCY SPERO – OPPRØRSKE HANDLINGER

Ti år etter Nancy Speros død presenterer Lillehammer Kunstmuseum en stor retrospektiv utstilling dedisert til denne fascinerende amerikanske kunstneren.

Dette er første gang det arrangeres en separatutstilling av Nancy Speros (1926–2009) verk i Norge. Spero er en av de mest betydningsfulle skikkelser i amerikansk etterkrigskunst. Hun var opptatt av eksistensielle aspekter ved det å være et menneske.

Gjennom hele karrieren tok hun opp eksistensielle og brennbare temaer som undertrykkelse av kvinner i krig og konflikter, tortur, nazismens overgrep mot jødiske kvinner og seksualisert vold – temaer som har like stor aktualitet i dag. Hennes register er bredt og spenner fra tematisering av de mest brutale, undertrykkende handlinger til de livsbejaende, erotiske, sterke og frigjorte kvinneskikkelsen. Spero fanger inn hele kvinnelivet, fra den dypeste smerte til den pure livsglede, men hun forlater aldri et dyptgripende engasjement i for kvinnefrigjøringen.

Nancy Spero,
Picasso and Frederick’s of Hollywood, 1990
Handprinted collage on paper
The Estate of Nancy Spero, Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co, New York.
© The Nancy Spero and Leon Golub Foundation of the Arts / BONO 2020 
 

Spero er like aktuell i dag og utstillingen gir en unik mulighet til å sette viktig feministiske problemstillinger på dagsorden. Nancy Speros stemme er forankret i vår historie og i samtiden.

Hver lørdag og søndag kl. 14:00 kan du bli med på en åpen omvisning i utstillingen. Meld deg på her!

Gikk du glipp av den digitale utstillingsåpningen? Her kan du se taler og videohilsener.

Utstillingen omfatter rundt 70 verk av blant annet papir, malerier og installasjoner, og organiseres av Museum Folkwang i Essen, Tyskland.

Nancy Spero
To Soar, 1997
Handprinting and colored collage on paper.
The Estate of Nancy Spero, Courtesy Barbara Gross Galerie, München
© The Nancy Spero and Leon Golub Foundation of the Arts / BONO 2020 
 

Exebition October 2020 – January 2021


Nancy Spero was an American painter and feminist artist. Her expressive work is characterized by its figurative interpretation of sociopolitical and cultural issues, often directly tackling racism, violence, and sexism in contemporary space. “I’ve always sought to express a tension in form and meaning in order to achieve a veracity,” she had said of her work. Throughout her practice, she regularly shifted balances of power and developed new feminist narratives in spaces there would otherwise be without. Born on August 24, 1926 in Cleveland, OH, Spero’s paintings, sculptures, and installations are firmly embedded in the Modernist tradition, utilizing references like Ancient Egyptian sarcophagi and printmaking techniques to provide critical insight into contemporary life. She studied painting at both the Art Institute of Chicago and at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and married the artist Leon Golub in 1950, with whom she would often collaborate. Her work can be found in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, among others. Spero died in New York, NY on October 18, 2009 at the age of 83.

Crying Woman/Fertitlity Figure, 1985

Nancy Spero

Crying Woman/Fertitlity Figure, 1985

Anders Wahlstedt Fine Art

Sheela-Na-Gig, 1985

Nancy Spero

Sheela-Na-Gig, 1985

Los Angeles Modern Auctions

Homslatin III, 1997

Nancy Spero

Homslatin III, 1997

Galerie Lelong & Co. – Paris

Hera

Nancy Spero

Hera

Galerie Lelong & Co. – Paris

Helicopter, Messenger, Tree-Bombs - Lynched..., 1967

Nancy Spero

Helicopter, Messenger, Tree-Bombs – Lynched…, 1967

Galerie Lelong & Co. – Paris

Dildo Dancer Circle, 2003

Nancy Spero

Dildo Dancer Circle, 2003

Gazelli Art House

Crying Woman - Fertility Figure, 1985

Nancy Spero

Crying Woman – Fertility Figure, 1985

Explicit, 1997

Nancy Spero

Explicit, 1997

Hera and Fertility Symbols, 1985

Nancy Spero

Hera and Fertility Symbols, 1985

Egyptian & Greek, 1989

Nancy Spero

Egyptian & Greek, 1989

Untitled, 1989

Nancy Spero

Untitled, 1989

Movement 4, 1994

Nancy Spero

Movement 4, 1994

The Somnambulist, 2000

Nancy Spero

The Somnambulist, 2000

Goddess and Dancing Figures, 1985

Nancy Spero

Goddess and Dancing Figures, 1985

Untitled (Angel), 2000

Nancy Spero

Untitled (Angel), 2000

Thou Shalt Not Kill (Plate VI from The Ten..., 1987

Nancy Spero

Thou Shalt Not Kill (Plate VI from The Ten…, 1987

6 sheets: Artemis; Dancers; Acrobat;..., 1994

Nancy Spero

6 sheets: Artemis; Dancers; Acrobat;…, 1994

The dance, 1993

Nancy Spero

The dance, 1993

Dancers, 1985

Nancy Spero

Dancers, 1985

Three running figures

Nancy Spero

Three running figures

Running woman, 1970

Nancy Spero

Running woman, 1970

Untitled (triptych), 1988

Nancy Spero

Untitled (triptych), 1988

Kneeling woman, 1970

Nancy Spero

Kneeling woman, 1970

Two nudes

Nancy Spero

Two nudes

Eagle. Victims, 1970

Nancy Spero

Eagle. Victims, 1970

Untitled, 1983

Nancy Spero

Untitled, 1983

Figures, 1982

Nancy Spero

Figures, 1982

Sky goddess nut, Virgin Mary, death head, 1991

Nancy Spero

Sky goddess nut, Virgin Mary, death head, 1991

Goddess and mourning women, 1989

Nancy Spero

Goddess and mourning women, 1989

Cigarette ad

Nancy Spero

Cigarette ad

The three graces, 1989–1989

Nancy Spero

The three graces, 1989–1989

Performance, 1995

Nancy Spero

Performance, 1995

Untitled, 1984–1984

Nancy Spero

Untitled, 1984–1984

From artnet.com

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Spero

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