Nancy Spero Helicopter, Victim, Astronaut 1968
© 2022 The Nancy Spero and Leon Golub Foundation for the Arts/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Nancy Spero is a pivotal figure in the history of feminist art and was a vocal critic of war and totalitarian regimes. Rendered in ink and gouache, using energetic marks on fragile paper, Helicopter, Victim, Astronaut is part of The War Series produced in the late 1960s and early 1970s and based on the images of helicopters and bombings that were broadcast on television during the Vietnam War. In this work, a helicopter is combined with two figures, with one holding up the decapitated head of the other. The bodies are depicted as simple, schematic forms and evidence Spero’s interest in ancient writing and drawings, in particular, hieroglyphs and figures painted on Greek vases. This work critically examines and condemns the history and rituals of war-related violence. In the words of the artist, through this image she sought “to make tangible the booty of war—what a warrior would take from a battlefield, dismembering his victims and using those parts as decorations for himself.”
Identification
Title
Helicopter, Victim, Astronaut
Production Date
1968
Object Number
2012.1
Credit Line
Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, museum purchase with funds provided by the Helena Rubinstein Philanthropic Fund at The Miami Foundation
Copyright
© 2022 The Nancy Spero and Leon Golub Foundation for the Arts/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
https://www.pamm.org/en/artwork/2012.1
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Physical Qualities
Medium
Gouache and ink on paper
Dimensions
25 x 39 1/2 inches
Visual Description
Helicopter, Victim, Astronaut by Nancy Spero is a painting from 1968. It measures twenty-five inches tall by thirty-nine and a half inches wide. It is hung in landscape orientation, meaning its longest side runs parallel to the ground.
The composition of this work is filed by a landed helicopter with rested propellers. The helicopter is depicted by large gray gouache markings that extend beyond the white frame. The background of this work is also a pale gray as the gouache outlining the helicopter is a darker shade. The markings are one line made with the use of a big dry brush. Simple and clear with no extra details, only the shape of the vehicle is shared.
On top of the helicopter’s roof a person stands with hands in the air. The figure is drawn out with ink and filled with gray paint. No clothing is indicated on the body, simply the outline of a body and bald head. There is a red cord that extends from the person’s bellybutton to the top of the rested helicopter blade above. With hands in the air this seemingly male figure seems to reach the bottom of one of the propeller blades. He is facing the audience with a round object the looks to be collaged at the top of his left hand. The round figure atop the hand of the man is the head of the fallen figure. There is hair drawn onto the head and a faint face is assigned to both men. There is a paragraph or so of text that is possibly newspaper clipping collaged onto the figures head with no space between. The text also reaches the bottom of the propeller blade of the helicopter.
In the foreground, closer to the bottom of the white frame there lies another body. This figure is not on the ground but rather floating or free falling from the helicopter. The body is framed by what seems to be a door to the side of the vehicle. The figure is headless with a v cut from the top of the outlined body inked and filled with dark gray paint. The arms of this figure are out stretched in a t formation.
