Nancy Spero, Encounters

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. Spero''s encounters with the work of Ana Mendieta, H.D., Isadora Duncan and others are examined.

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.