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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Visual Art Nancy Spero and the Moral Dimension

Posted by Jen Graves on Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 11:48 AM

One of the great artists died Sunday. Nancy Spero was uncompromising. She was outraged. She paid attention to the world, not the art world. The same thing can be said of her husband of 53 years, Leon Golub, who died five years ago. I wish some humans would live forever.

One of Speros nightmare bug helicopters.

One of Spero's nightmare bug helicopters.

The last time I saw a major Spero was in Venice in 2007, when she showed a maypole of severed heads; it was one hotspot in an otherwise cool exhibition curated by Robert Storr. Every time I go to Portland Art Museum I go upstairs to see their Spero; there's nowhere in Seattle to see a Spero on a regular basis. The Henry has one minor work that I don't think I've ever seen out and Seattle Art Museum has nothing by her. SAM's great, giant Golub, from the White Squad series, is no longer up, but I think of it every time I go into the room where it hung for more than a year—it's that kind of work.

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Re Golub, the first chapter of Gerald Marzorati's book on him, 'A Painter of Darkness,' is a terrific account of a viewer interacting with a painting, exploring the physical and emotional process of 'looking at' a work of art. I agree -- both Golub and Spero are huge losses.

Posted by Lesley Hazleton on October 20, 2009 at 2:23 PM

SAM took down the Golub? I am so pissed about that.

Posted by Lesley Hazleton on October 20, 2009 at 2:37 PM

Thank you for the sad news and the commemoration. She moved me.

Posted by greendyke on October 20, 2009 at 3:40 PM