Nancy Brooks Brody

Nancy Brooks Brody (September 12, 1962– December 8, 2023) was an American visual artist and activist. She was a founding member of fierce pussy, a lesbian feminist art collective aimed at raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic.

Biography Nancy Brooks Brody was born in Manhattan, New York on September 12, 1962. Brody's mother was a secretary and their father was a buyer for Macy's department store. They grew up in the city's Upper West Side, where their artistic abilities were first recognized as a child when making their family's Christmas cards. Brody attended New York City's High School of Music & Art, where they learned printmaking. Beginning in high school, Brody frequented night clubs including the Mudd Club and Danceteria; their first art exhibit was at the Pyramid Club. Later, Brody would attend the School of Visual Arts. Brody would exhibit their first solo retrospective at New Math Gallery in 1984. They began to attend ACT UP meetings, where they met Joy Episalla and Zoe Leonard. They were part of the campaign to protest the CDC (1989), Target City Hall (1989) and Day of Desperation (1991), the Queens-Midtown-Tunnel Action (1995) and other protests, sometimes getting arrested for acts of civil disobedience. fierce pussy's early works utilized "crack-and-peel stickers" and wheat-paste posters to share their message across surfaces in New York City. The group additionally created public service announcement videos, clothing and greeting cards in support of LGBTQ rights. Brody would remain active in the group until her death. In 2018, she and mentee Russell Perkins developed A Different Light, an installation artwork for New York's LGBT Community Center.

Later life and death In 2021, Brody was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Brody died on December 8, 2023 at age 61. 2019, Nancy Brooks Brody, Klaus Von Nichtssagend Gallery 2018, Nancy Brooks Brody, Book Marks, Fortnight Institute, New York City 2015, Decoy of New Showers, Nancy Brooks Brody + David Nelson invited by Jo-ey Tang, Galerie Joseph Tang, Paris France 2014, Suites in Space: Merce Drawings and Color Forms, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, NY. Curated by Alenha Katsof. 2007-2009, Nancy Brooks Brody, Virgil de Voldere Gallery, New York, NY 2004-2007, Nancy Brooks Brody, Virgil de Voldere Gallery, New York, NY A Different Light, 2018. Russell Perkins and his Mentor Nancy Brooks Brody. The LGBT Community Center, Bureau of General Services – Queer Division. FRAC Haute-Normandie, France

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