Books :: Torture of Women by Nancy Spero

From Siglio Press: Torture of Women is Nancy Spero’s fierce and enduring contribution to contemporary art, to feminist thought and action, and to the continuing protest against torture, injustice, and the abuse of power.

This epic artwork, juxtaposing testimony by female victims of torture with startling imagery from the ancient world, is as powerful now as when it was created in 1976. Artistic ingenuity coupled with boldly feminist and political intent, Torture of Women is a public cry of outrage and a nuanced exploration of the continuum of violence and the isolation of pain. It is also a pivotal work by an American artist whose immense impact has yet to be fully examined.

Siglio’s publication, three years in the making, translates the 125 ft. work into nearly 100 pages of detail so that the entirety of Torture of Women—with legible texts and vibrant color reproductions—can be experienced with immediacy and intimacy, providing a unique opportunity to engage this influential but infrequently exhibited work of art. Siglio’s publication of Torture of Women also serves as a centrifuge for conversation, raising provocative questions that cross the borders of art, politics, feminism, and human rights.

With an essay “Fourteen Meditations of Torture of Women by Nancy Spero” by Diana Nemiroff; “Symmetries,” a story by Luisa Valenzuela; and an excerpt from The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World by Elaine Scarry.

$48 Clothbound 156 pages, Illustrated ISBN 978-0-9799562-2-5