"I have to figure that this is like a stageproduction. This is part of the process," shesays, referring to the activity surrounding her,as two assistants transfer images on the walls ofthe gallery.
Spero says the fact that the installation willbe painted over in less than a year does nottrouble her. It "Gives it added poignancy, likesomething transitory. It's a memory of the piecesin the gallery."
Given the span of Spero's artistic career, sheis surprisingly cavalier about her work. Spero iscareful to emphasize that she is reconfiguring thepast, "Not in any scholarly or scientific way" butrather using "visual and psychic personalreactions."
Compared to the actual artifacts, she says herprints are "gross." The piece does not overwhelmthe gallery but "Spots the wall, takes its turf,heightens the space, leaves the museum, butchanges it."
"I like to think that all my art isopen-ended," she adds, "And that from thisinstallation I go to the next and then the next."Emphasizing process in Spero's means of "Alwaysreconfiguring, creating new personages."
Spero's memory is expansive and far-reaching.She remembers a time when women were shut out ofthe art world, denied a place in a male-dominatedsphere. In 1971, Spero was a founding member ofthe Artists in Residence gallery, the firstwomen's cooperative art gallery in New York City.
While recognizing "more of an awareness fromthe 70s on," she believes that making it in theart world is, "Still more difficult for women.It's still a question of biology. Although certainsensitive young men do take responsibility, thewomen still carry the child."
Spero says, however, "It's not just biology.Because of gender wars, society itself has been inmen's favor. "She uses primarily images of womenin her work in order to shift the balance, evenadding breasts to a male figure to convert it to afemale form.
Spero's "Raise/Time" will open in the SacklerMuseum's Ancient Art Galleries on February 18. Shewill discuss the exhibition in a public interviewafter a screening of the documentary, "Woman asProtagonist: The Art Nancy Spero," in the SacklerAuditorium at 6 a.m. on February 15.
Only in the past decade has Spero received theacclaim and recognition that her unique visionmerits. The dialogue which fills the gallery thisweek as Spero and her assistants pass questionsback and forth will continue. The finishedinstallation will question the Sackler's ancientwork and bring new color to ancient artifacts,exposing viewers to Spero's insistent voice andits demanding questions.