LONDON.- Marlborough Fine Art announced their exhibition of new paintings and graphics by Paula Rego. This exhibition coincides with the publication of the revised and updated Catalogue Raisonné by Tom Rosenthal of Thames & Hudson.
One of Honoré de Balzac's most celebrated tales, The Unknown Masterpiece is the story of a painter who, depending on one's perspective, is either an abject failure or a transcendental genius - or both. The story has served as an inspiration to artists as various as Cézanne, Henry James, Picasso, and Paula Rego.
The sumptuously produced Catalogue Raisonné discusses and illustrates all Rego’s prints, including unpublished work. The second edition includes chapters on five new series produced since 2003 – Moon Eggs, Prince Pig, Wine, Curved Planks and Female Genital Mutilation; on the influence of Irish playwright Martin McDonagh’s work on Rego; and an updated section of Works Out of Series.
Many of Rego’s prints are based on themes, as she says that one image triggers the idea for the next. Among these are Rego’s Nursery Rhymes, which reveal a darkly humorous take on the difficulties of childhood, and provide a rich seam for her precocious girls and individually characterized animals. Her work is known for revealing complex stories about the sinister side of sexuality and family relations, and Rego’s feminism underlies everything she does: the six works in the Female Genital Mutilation series are some of the most powerful images that she has ever produced.
A fully illustrated catalogue of the exhibition will be published with an introduction by Tom Rosenthal. The revised edition of Paula Rego: The Complete Graphic Work will be available for purchase at the Gallery.
A powerful original female voice, she is now one of Europe's most sought after artists. A painter of 'stories', her characters enact a variety of roles and depict disquieting tensions below the surface. Her most recent work, large pastel paintings and sharply drawn etchings, express an extraordinary range of emotions and experiences. Paula Rego's painting 'War' and selected prints were on view at the "Only Make-Believe" exhibition at Compton Verney, Warwickshire from 25 March - 5 June 2005. Paula's series of large scale drawings, entitled Human Cargo, were shown at the Marlbrough Chelsea Gallery, New York, April - May 2008. The catalogue introduction includes an interesting insight into Paula's work by the curator Marco Livingstone: First Principles. A recent publication by John McEwen entitled Behind the Scenes offers an interesting new approach to Paula's work through the studio and the models instillations that she uses.
Works by Paula are included in the Corner Group Exhibition at the Sophienholm, Lyngby near Copenhagen, 8 January - 8 March 2009. Her Little Red Riding Hood Suite 2003 will be included in an exhibition at the Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston from 13 June - 6 September 2009. Other forthcoming exhibitions are The Artist’s Studio at Compton Verney, Warwickshire, 26 September - 13 December 2009, curated by Giles Waterfield and Decadence, the Rake’s Progress at the Dunkers Kulturhus, Helsingborg, Sweden, 23rd October 2009 until February 2010, to include the Hogarth Triptych Marriage a la Mode from the Tate Britain's collection and other related works, her After Hogarth etchings and O Vinho series of lithographs.
The Jane Eyre series of paintings and prints was exhibited at Marlborough Fine Art in October 2003 coinciding with the publication of Paula Rego - The Complete Graphic Work published by Thames & Hudson. A major Retrospective exhibiiton of paintings, prints and drawings from 1997-2004 was on show at the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Oporto, www.serralves.pt from October 2004-January 2005. An exhibition of Paula's work including her triptych 'The Pillow Man' was shown at Tate Britain from 27 October 2004 - 2 January 2005. This was the first in Tate Britain’s new biennial series of concise exhibitions featuring the work of senior British artists. The exhibition included early work responding to the political climate in Portugal of the 1960's; Triptych 1998 - a response to the referendum in Portugal on the question of legalising abortion and more recent paintings. Paula Rego's painting 'War' and selected prints were on view at the "Only Make-Believe" exhibition at Compton Verney, Warwickshire from 25 March - 5 June 2005. www.comptonverney.org.uk BIOGRAPHY 1935 Born in Lisbon, Portugal 1952-56 Slade School of Fine Art 1990 Appointed the First National Gallery Associate Artist 1999 Honorary Doctorate of Letters, University of St. Andrews, Scotland; Honorary Doctorate of Letters, University of East Anglia, Norwich; 2000 Honorary Doctorate of Letters, Rhode Island School of Design, USA Lives and works in London
