What an extraordinary Paula Rego (b 1935) retrospective at the Tate Britain and impossible to do it justice in ten images only, as her oeuvre couldn’t be more versatile with regards to topics and styles. Rego grew up in Portugal under the dictatorship of Salazar that lasted until 1974 and from an early age on, she witnesses injustice that she addressed through her work and investigates how women’s identities are shaped while growing up in patriarchal societies (which made me think of Artemisa somehow). Rego loves storytelling and some of her works borrow from operas or children stories, such as Aida or Snow White, depicting rebellious girls fighting against social norms. Her later works address extremely heavy matters such as the death of her husband, abortion, the trafficking of women and female genitale mutilation. A brilliantly curated show of one of the most brave and political contemporary artists of our time!
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