Petworth’s Newlands House Gallery welcomes the touring exhibition Paula Rego: Visions of English Literature, running from May 22 to September 6.
Spokeswoman Megan Edwards said: “Hayward Gallery Touring presents a new exhibition of the internationally renowned Portuguese-British artist Paula Rego (1935-2022). Paula Rego: Visions of English Literature will showcase the artist’s remarkable printmaking practice, taking a deep look into the literary influences that have inspired Rego’s works.
“One of the great printmakers and storytellers of our time, Paula Rego drew inspiration from a vast range of sources from traditional folklore and fairy tales, to literary classics and nursery rhymes.
“Paula Rego: Visions of English Literature will present three of the artist’s most ambitious and profound series of works in printmaking: Nursery Rhymes, Peter Pan and Jane Eyre, made across a decade of the artist’s life.
“Each series will be accompanied by a variety of personal items from the artist, many of which have never been publicly displayed before. Unseen preparatory sketches, etching plates and Rego’s very own childhood copy of Peter Pan will offer audiences an intimate portrayal of the artist’s lifelong fascination with literature and insight into how the artist transformed this material into startlingly original and unexpected pictures.
“From menacing oversized creatures etched into life from children’s nursery rhymes such as Little Miss Muffet and Three Blind Mice, to the almost hallucinatory depictions of Neverland from Peter Pan and the tumultuous relationships based on power read about in Jane Eyre, Rego’s work tells stories that combine fantasy and imagination, innocence and cruelty, in order to explore the complexities of life and the experience of women in particular, in all its strangeness and mystery.
“Paula Rego: Visions of English Literature aims to spark new ways of seeing the world from audiences in relation to these seemingly familiar, age-old stories.
“Hayward Gallery Touring is the UK’s largest contemporary art organisation producing exhibitions that tour Britain. Paula Rego: Visions of English Literature will bring a unique cultural experience to new audiences up and down the UK, providing an opportunity to step into the world and mind of one of the most important figurative artists of her generation.”
Brian Cass, senior curator, Hayward Gallery Touring, added: “Throughout her life, Paula Rego used print-making as a central tool of her art. Taking inspiration from literature, she connected with stories in very personal ways, using them to articulate the conditions of her own life and draw her desires, dreams, fears, and traumas into sequences of remarkable pictures.
“Hayward Gallery Touring had the honour of working with Paula Rego on a small travelling show in the 1990s. We are absolutely delighted to continue this relationship 35 years later, and by collaborating with a range of exhibition patterns, celebrate her unique art and vision with audiences across the UK.”
A spokesman for Paula Rego’s estate added: “Life with Paula was filled with stories, humour and mischief and she always seemed to have her own, surprising twist on the books she read. She often said that she had the most fun making the prints for these series because the stories were already laid out for her, but there’s no question that she made them her own.”
Newlands House Gallery can be found in Pound Street, Petworth, GU28 0DX; [email protected]; 01798 651002. Opening hours: Wednesday-Saturday 10am-5pm; Sunday 11am-4pm.
