Paula Rego

Catalogue for Rego’s exhibition at the Serpentine gallery in October 1988. Beginning with ‘The Birthday Party’, painted whilst she was a student at Slade, and following her movement from grown-up paintings to works made sitting on the floor, collaging and drawing big the illustrations she included at the foot of letters to her children, playing out and risking in images what she couldn’t in life.

‘This is what I always say to students: your freedom, our freedom, is here. We have total freedom to paint exactly what we please. Exactly. It doesn’t hurt anybody. Scaredy cat! I still am. I like taking risks in painting, painting on the edge, but I’m very careful in real life. You have to survive, don’t you.’

There is a painting of stray dogs in Barcelona based on the decision of the authorities that there were too many stray dogs and to get rid of them they chucked poisoned meat around the city. She cites Dubuffet and Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves as other sources of inspiration.

‘You see, this is something that has always fascinated me. I can’t get over the fact that someone who is compassionate, understanding, can also be cruel, because of their own hang-ups. I don’t get used to this, though it’s pretty obvious. I mean, when you’re a kid, you could be enjoying playing with somebody very much, and then slap them, and then kiss them to make it better. I mean you take pleasure in being cruel to people in a perverse sort of way. It’s just something in one’s nature, I guess. And these complicated things are endlessly fascinating, endlessly fascinating.’ Rego in the catalogue’s interview

Good condition, softcover. 1988.