Nancy Spero, Encounters

By Joanna S. Walker

An original and valuable intervention in the fast-growing field of feminist and new art histories, Nancy Spero, Encounters offers a sophisticated interpretation of the work of a highly original and under-represented woman artist. The study proposes a new model of comparatism within the field of visual studies, mirroring and complementing Spero's dialogic manner of working. Basing her analyses on extensive research and multiple face-to-face interviews with the artist, Joanna Walker examines how a selection of the artists and art forms Spero cited offer significant points of comparison with her work. Walker presents Spero's encounters with the art of Ana Mendieta; with the poetry of the American poet H.D.; with the dance of Isadora Duncan; and, turning the lens back on Spero as subject, with the portraits of the artist by Abe Frajndlich. Also included are transcripts of Walker's interviews with the artist, and a listing of the books contained in Spero's personal library which informed her practice. Not only does this book cast well-deserved light on an artist who spent most of her career on the margins of the mainstream - it reverses genealogies and revises the traditional remit of the art historical monograph through both its structure and content.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1409420434
• ISBN13: 9781409420439
• Release Date: December 2011
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.4" x 9.3"