Nancy Spero

Nancy Spero’s provocative piece “The Bomb” shows the male form being hideously twisted by aggression into an atomic bomb, one of the most recognizable and terrifying modes of war known to modern man. Her use of line furthers the idea that this is war protest art in that the lines all seem rushed and hurried, imitating how one feels when one is angry and upset, or blinded by the rage of violence. The head, arms, and reproductive organs, traditional bodily homes for aggression, are perverted into tiny heads that are spitting blood. I find “The Bomb” deeply disturbing in its transformation of the human body, which can be so beautiful and glorious, into a hideous figure of war and destruction. As this was exactly Nancy Spero’s goal, I think “The Bomb” is a captivating work of art.