Nancy Spero (1926 - 2009)

Nancy Spero (1926-2009)

Nancy Spero, one of the co-founders of A.I.R. Gallery and a member artist from 1972– 1983, was a strong advocate for feminism and the advancement of women in the arts.
 

During her first solo exhibition at A.I.R. in 1973, Spero developed her signature scroll paintings in which text and image were united on long scrolls of paper, glued end-to-end and tacked without ceremony to the gallery walls. Her disregard for formal, grandiose presentation and preoccupation with intimacy and immediacy remained a theme  throughout her career.

Nancy Spero was a prolific artist working in a variety of media, drawing from a broad range of sources, including fashion magazines, Etruscan and Roman frescoes, tomb sarcophagi, the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement and feminist history. Social and political activism was a central theme in Spero’s art from early works, such as “G.L.O.R.Y.” (1967), up to recent works such as “Maypole: Take No Prisoners” (2007), which premiered at the 2007 Venice Biennale. She served as a member of the Art Workers Coalition (1968-69) and Women Artists in Revolution (1969) before joining nineteen other women artists to form A.I.R. Gallery (1972).

More recently, Spero expanded her repertoire to include public art commissions with the exemplary installation “Artemis, Acrobats, and Dancers”, a mosaic that graces the walls of New York City’s 66th Street Lincoln Center Subway Station (2005 MTA Arts for Transit). Spero’s works are also part of the permanent collections of the Chicago Institute of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art and the Walker Art Center, among others. In 2010 the Centre George Pompidou, Paris will hold a retrospective exhibition of her work.

Nancy Spero has come to be a much-loved role model for women artists. The arts community is feeling the great loss of her inspirational voice which championed equality, peace, and tolerance since the 1960’s.

Images:

1. Nancy Spero

2. Nancy Spero at A.I.R. Gallery c.1975

3. Postcard for Nancy Spero exhibition at A.I.R., 1974

4. Postcard for Nancy Spero exhibition at A.I.R, 1973

We hope this post will be used as a forum for people to share memories, recollections and tributes to Nancy Spero. Please click "comments" below to add a posting.

We would like to give a special thanks to Mary Beth Edelson for providing these early images of Nancy Spero to the gallery.

A.I.R. Members including Nancy Spero at A.I.R. © Mary Beth Edelson

A.I.R. Members including Nancy Spero at A.I.R. © Mary Beth Edelson

Nancy Spero at a MoMa demonstration © Mary Beth Edelson

Death of the Patriarchy, by Mary Beth Edelson © Mary Beth Edelson

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Agnes Denes opening October 29 at Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York

  Agnes Denes––a founding member of A.I.R. Gallery––will be exhibiting works from 1960 to the present at the Leslie Tonkonow gallery. This solo show will mark the first presentation of vintage photographs made by the artist, documenting her groundbreaking environmental and philosophical projects.

 October 29, 2009 – January 16, 2010
  
LESLIE TONKONOW
Artworks + Projects
535 West 22nd Street
 New York, N.Y. 10011

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Girldrive: Criss-Crossing America, Redefining Feminism

Girldrive: Criss-Crossing America

Redefining Feminism

An event to celebrate the launch of Emma Bee Bernstein and Nona Willis Aronowitz's new book about young women and the future of feminism

Girldrive Launch Party

6 to 9 p.m. Friday Oct. 30

A.I.R. Gallery, 111 Front St., #228, Brooklyn, NY.

See directions below

The book is available at bookstores and online as well. More information at: http://www.girl-drive.com/

About the Book:

Nona and Emma have done what I suspect many women, young and old, have always dreamed of doing: Hit the open road with nothing more than a partner in crime, a full tank of gas, a playlist of good music, a pad of paper, a camera, and an unyielding curiosity. The duo - self-described progressives from New York with impeccable credentials in East Coast establishment feminism—aren't content to let their backgrounds define the history of gender equality in the U.S.... or its future. Instead, they take—nay, create—the opportunity to explore the nooks and crannies of their country, their female compatriots, their friendship, and their own psyches through a Thelma and Louise-like trip around the United States in which they interview and photograph a diverse sampling of American women. Unlike the title characters of that beloved 1991 film however, Nona and Emma's journey is notable in that they are traveling to, not away, from something, namely, an understanding of contemporary feminism, both its successes and limitations. Girldrive is part travel diary, part social document, part art exhibit and, sadly, part eulogy; not only do I recommend it highly, I have to admit that I'm insanely jealous I didn't think of it first.

—Anna Holmes, Founder/Editor, Jezebel.com

Girldrive is a fascinating, fiery, dramatic whirlwind tour through modern-day women’s lives. Aronowitz and Bernstein treat feminism both as sacred and something that can, and is, being refashioned, and in some cases, dismissed in favor of other ways of advancing change. Thankfully, they don’t only talk to self-described “feminists,” but to all sorts of women of different ages, races, sexualities, and belief systems. Girldrive is very likely to make you excited, impassioned, and, at times, infuriated--and that’s a good thing. Rather than handing you preformatted answers, Girldrive lets its diversity ofopinion speak to you, rather than for you.

—Rachel Kramer Bussel, Editor, Dirty Girls: Erotica for Women, Host,

in The Flesh Reading Series

The trailer for Girl-Drive can be viewed here.

Emma Bee Bernstein Fellowship at A.I.R. Gallery:

A.I.R. has permanently named one yearly A.I.R. Fellowship after the artist, activist, writer, and feminist Emma Bee Bernstein (1985-2008). Each year the program offers 6 women artists the opportunity to have their first solo exhibit at A.I.R. and receive 18 months of professional development and mentoring. Contributions towards the Emma Bee Bernstein Fellowship can be made at www.airgallery.org, or can be sent to the address below.

Wheelchair access to the building is through the 55 Washington Street entrance.

Take the elevator to the 2nd Floor.

Directions: The F train to York St. (first stop in Brooklyn) Turn right as you exit the station, walk 1 block down hill to Front St. Turn left on Front St. and walk 2 1/2 blocks. Or take the A/C train to High St. (first stop in Brooklyn) and walk through Cadman Plaza Park and down Washington St. toward the water until you reach Front St, then turn right.

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Louise McCagg @ the Venice Biennale

A few months ago we made the announcement that our New York Artist. Louise McCagg was included in the 2009 Venice Biennale. The Biennale will run through November 22nd, 2009. We are happy to show our viewers and the members of our community some photographs from the event. 

Enjoy.

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A.I.R. Fellowship Program - Applications Due Oct 31st!

 
The A.I.R. Gallery FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM is an 18-month professional development program that includes a solo show opportunity for women in the NYC area. Fellows are chosen by a panel of arts professionals, who also make a one-time studio visit with the fellows. Meetings are held regularly throughout the 18 months of the fellowship on topics such as grant writing, preparing for your exhibition, and how to communicate with critics. Each fellow also creates and implements a project that furthers the mission of A.I.R. Gallery. Past projects have included and open call for work about gender, a workshop for our interns about how to use power tools, and a feminist fashion show. I encourage all that are eligible to apply!

This year's panelists: Lowery Stokes-Sims, Curator, Museum of Art and Design; Harriet Senie, Art Critic and Art Historian; and Catherine Morris, Curator of the Elizabeth Sackler Center for Feminist Art at The Brooklyn Museum.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: October 31, 2009.

Apply online or download an application: http://www.airgallery.org
Send SASE for prospectus to: A.I.R. Gallery, 111 Front St #228, Brooklyn, NY, 11217 

---- Simone Meltesen, Fellowship Coordinator

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Gallery News!

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are having a good week thus far. Here are some exhibitions outside of A.I.R. that have our gallery artists:

New York Members
Susan Bee is exhibiting her work now in the group show “Hudson Valley at 400: Paradise or Paradise Lost?” The show is at the Athens Cultural Center, 24 Second Street, Athens, NY. The exhibition will be on view through November 1, 2009. This show juxtaposes modern landscapists with art of social commentary in this intriguing exhibition. The exhibit was curated by Randall Evans and Cynthia Karasek.

Ann Pachner is exhibiting her work in "Cross Currents" with Emily Cheng at 499 Park Avenue Gallery, New York City [southeast corner of Park and 59th St.]. The show is up till October 30, 2009. For more information please contact dorothy@dsafinearts.com.

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Upcoming exhibitions!

Hi Everyone!

A new set of shows is opening at A.I.R. this week! The opening reception is Thursday, October 8th from 6-8PM and the exhibits run through November 1st.

New Work by Ann Schaumburger opens in Gallery I. Schaumburger is a New York City Member of A.I.R. Gallery. In this exhibition, we see the use of house-shaped panels reminiscent of a child's rendering of a home. Schaumburger fills her paintings with designs and emblems, all of which are characterized by her striking colorist techniques. Toy-like dioramas of boats, moons, and trees punctuate her paintings, adding folk art charm.

Here's what critic Mario Naves says about her recent work: 

"Compositional rigor and chromatic exuberance have always been a hallmark of Ann Schaumburger's art, but in her recent paintings they've taken on a renewed urgency... It is Schaumburger's gift for color- the ability to hone in and expand on it's allusive possibilities - that sets the work apart. Luminescent greens, sour yellows, milky grays musky pinkish-purples and the rare, astringent white are employed with uncanny surety. The best colorists turn our heads by convincing us that we haven't truly experienced color before. Schaumbuger is a member of that select group and her paintings are bracing and welcome cases in point."

Ann Shaumburger, Sycamore House, flashe on wood, 2008.

In Gallery II, A.I.R. presents the inaugural Open A.I.R. curatorial program with Locks in Translation, curated by A.I.R. member JoAnne McFarland. Included in this exhibition are contemporary visual artists Emma Amos, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Jee Hwang, Carolyn Martin, Ann Pachner, Annette Rusin, Barbara Siegel, Lorna Simpson, and Hong Zhang, and poet Elizabeth Alexander. Below is a brief interview I did with JoAnne, enjoy!

Taryn Wells' Color Lines opens in Gallery III. Taryn is a member of A.I.R.'s National Artist program. In this collection of graphite drawings, Taryn portrays her problematic place in the world as a multiracial individual. Rather than providing an easy answer to questions of identity, Taryn offers an opportunity for a dialogue concerning the plurality of race.

Taryn Wells, Gotta Get Up, graphite on paper.

Hope you can make it to the opening! If not, you have a month to see these three amazing exhibitions. I'd love to hear what you think of the blog and the art, so leave comments!

-Stephanie

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