Accompanies a major exhibition of the work of two American artists – Nancy Spero and Kiki Smith – at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK. They are both prominent artists, from different generations, whose figurative art addresses issues of the feminine across history and mythology. The book explores thematic connections in their work – the female body, myth and fantasy, the 'decorative' – and situates them in the context of post-War American art and social movements, and feminist and cultural theory.