Our latest Exclusive video is now live! Click to watch Episode #159, “Nancy Spero: Collaboration” on Art21.org.
Filmed in 2006 and 2007 at her New York City studio, Nancy Spero (1926-2009) discusses how collaborations with other artists activated her work by allowing for greater variation. In working with others and drawing from an extensive collection of acquired and original figural images, Spero was able to produce art late into her life. Spero’s piece for the Venice Biennale, “Maypole / Take No Prisoners” (2007), is shown in process as one of her severed head images is printed on metal by an artist who is encouraged to alter the reproduction so that it looks “war-torn and bloody.”
Nancy Spero is featured in the Season 4 (2007) episode, “Protest” of the Art in the Twenty-First Century series on PBS. Watch full episodes online for free via Art21.org, PBS Video or Hulu, as a paid download via iTunes, or as part of a Netflix streaming subscription.