Nancy Spero's 'The First Language' and Her Figure-as-Hieroglyph Method Explored in New Monograph

Christopher Lyon's book 'Nancy Spero: The Work', published by Prestel, is linked to a retrospective at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. It delves into Spero's expansive 190-foot piece 'The First Language', which she completed in 1981 and first exhibited at A.I.R. Gallery. This marked her transition from text-dominant art to utilizing figures as hieroglyphs. Drawing inspiration from Jacques Mauduit's 'Forty Thousand Years of Modern Art' and Erich Neumann's 'The Great Mother', her methods evolved alongside David Reynolds in the late 1970s, resulting in nearly 900 printing plates. Notable critiques, including Peter Schjeldahl's review in the Village Voice in 1981, highlighted her work, which spans from Paleolithic to contemporary themes, emphasizing female imagery and ritualistic dance in her later pieces.