Based on key works from the artist's estate, public institutions and private collections,Acts of Rebellionsurveys the output of Nancy Spero (1926-2009), one of the most original female artists of the second half of the 20th century, spanning more than four decades.Acts of Rebellionalso sheds light on the postwar New York art scene and on Spero's role in particular, by allowing contemporary witnesses to speak.
Combining collages, prints and paintings, Spero's oeuvre explores existential questions such as the relations between the sexes and the role of violence. For Spero, it was the human figure--and from 1974 onward, exclusively depictions of women--that served as her primary concerns. Using images ranging from ancient Egyptian and pre-Columbian representations of women to fashion advertising, she placed them in new contexts to raise questions concerning notions of femininity.