British Portuguese Paula Rego (1935–2022) carved out her place in international art
history with a self-possessed, uncompromising expression and a burning commitment to
fighting oppression and lack of freedom. She grew up in Portugal under António de Oliveira
Salazar’s dictatorship, which imposed strong constraints, especially on women’s freedom,
and throughout her long career Rego dissected the relationship between gender, the body and
power in a dark, fantastical visual language. At a time when authoritarian forces are on
the rise across the world and women’s right to control their own bodies is under pressure,
her images feel more relevant than ever.
The exhibition Paula Rego – Dance Among Thorns presents Rego’s powerful and unsettling
body of work in its full breadth. The catalogue includes all works on display and a collection
of new texts by the exhibition’s curator Kari J. Brandtzæg as well as by Catarina Alfaro,
Isabel Freire and Jennifer Higgie. Together, they sketch an intense and nuanced portrait
of an artist who never ceased to challenge – whether aesthetically or politically.
