Angelo, Nancy

Nancy Angelo (born October 8, 1953 in Carson City, Nevada, USA) is an organizational psychologist and formerly a performance and video artist who took part in the feminist art movement in Los Angeles. After studying photography in Denmark and attending San Francisco Art Institute, Angelo moved to Los Angeles in 1975 in order to enroll in the Feminist Studio Workshop at the Woman’s Building.

Shortly after enrolling in the FSW, Angelo immersed herself in performance art and in 1976 she co-founded Feminist Art Workers with Cheri Gaulke, Laurel Klick, and Candace Compton (later replaced by Vanalyne Green). In an attempt to mobilize the strategies of feminist education in the field of performance art, the Feminist Art Workers used performance to create an empowering network for women in and outside of Los Angeles.

In 1976, Angelo and Compton directed Nun and Deviant, considered by many to be the key text of the feminist video art. By taking on the roles of a nun (Angelo) and a deviant (Compton), the two artists reflected on “prototypical or actual lesbian models.” At this time, Angelo’s experiments in performance art coincided with her involvement with local video production. Thus, during the same year, Angelo, Annette Hunt, Candace Compton, and Jerri Allyn established the Los Angeles Women’s Video Center, located at the Woman’s Building.

In 1981, Angelo co-founded another performance group, Sisters of Survival (SOS) that focused on anti-nuclear issues. The group formed after the dissolution of Feminist Art Workers, when two former FAW members, Gaulke and Angelo, decided to join forces with members of another LA-based group, The Waitresses. The original lineup included Angelo, Gaulke, Jerri Allyn, Anne Gauldin, and Sue Maberry. As a part of their performance, the members of SOS “dressed in nun’s habits of all colors of the rainbow to represent an image of ‘global sisterhood.’”

After leaving Sisters of Survival and ending her association with the Woman’s Building, Angelo decided to continue her education and obtain a PhD in organizational psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles. Currently, she lives in the Bay Area and provides organization development services as a part of Angelo + Garnets consulting firm.