Paula Rego
1935 (Lisbonne) / 2022 (Londres)
Artist's gallery
I believe that Paula Rego would not define herself as a feminist. Because for her, painting is almost a form of expression of the unconscious. She draws a lot of elements from her own childhood and the mediation of her art probably helps her to solve some personal problems. Paula Rego is especially interested in showing the relations of power, domination or submission between beings. She evokes the relationships between women and men but also with animals or children. And rather than talking about a "feminist" vision, it seems to me more accurate to evoke the questioning of the female condition. This is the case with her series on excision or the one on abortion that she made to lobby during the referendum that was to lead to the legalization of abortion in Portugal. This aspect of her work can be brandished to serve feminist causes but the artist is more complex and ambiguous.
Paula Rego dans son atelier, 2018
© Gautier Deblonde
Artist's gallery
I believe that Paula Rego would not define herself as a feminist. Because for her, painting is almost a form of expression of the unconscious. She draws a lot of elements from her own childhood and the mediation of her art probably helps her to solve some personal problems. Paula Rego is especially interested in showing the relations of power, domination or submission between beings. She evokes the relationships between women and men but also with animals or children. And rather than talking about a "feminist" vision, it seems to me more accurate to evoke the questioning of the female condition. This is the case with her series on excision or the one on abortion that she made to lobby during the referendum that was to lead to the legalization of abortion in Portugal. This aspect of her work can be brandished to serve feminist causes but the artist is more complex and ambiguous.
Paula Rego dans son atelier, 2018
© Gautier Deblonde
Artist's exhibitions
59e Biennale de Venise
22/04/2022 - 27/11/2022
(Venise) La Biennale de Venise, Arsenal et Giardini
22/04/2022 - 27/11/2022
(Venise) La Biennale de Venise, Arsenal et Giardini
Le chef-d’œuvre inconnu, entre génie et folie
18/11/2021 - 06/03/2022
(Paris) Maison de Balzac
18/11/2021 - 06/03/2022
(Paris) Maison de Balzac
Les Contes cruels de Paula Rego
17/10/2018 - 14/01/2019
(Paris) Musée de l'Orangerie
17/10/2018 - 14/01/2019
(Paris) Musée de l'Orangerie