Art
Triangles
John McEwen
paula Rego's first solo exhibition in Eng- land took place at the AIR Gallery in the summer of 1981, and was widely con- sidered a stunner. Now she follows it up with a fine consolidatory exhibition of pain- tings and prints at a private commercial gallery, Edward Totah, 39 Floral Street, WC2 (till 9 .0ctober). Paula Rego is famous in her native Portugal, less so in her adopted England; but it surely cannot be ',Ong before she is equally celebrated here. Quite simply, she is one of the very best artists we have.
For her newest admirers in this country the present show, inevitably, will not have the stunning novelty of the last, but for an artist of her experience (she is in her mid- forties) the degree of evolution it demon- strates is still remarkable. Her paintings at AIR consisted of two types: paper collages on large stretched canvases and smaller free-hand 'drawings' on paper. The col- lages had stronger colour, denser and more Considered composition, a more imposing ize, but somehow their method, the cutting and rearranging, worked against the extraordinary ease of the drawings. And, looking back, it is easy to see that the her edges of collage placed a restraint on "er handling of colour as much as line. One Painting unsuccessfully tried to bridge the gap between the two modes of working. tt is the merit of these latest paintings that they demonstrate that the first stage tq bridging that gap has now been com- pleted.
, The most obvious change is that collage has been abandoned — which, in turn, has greatly reduced the size. The 11 paintings are all acrylic on paper, but they differ from the drawings at AIR in being bigger, more colourful and, in most cases, far less speedi- IY done. This lack of speed most shows itself, in the degree of over-painting, so thick that at times it sags the paper (the ar- tist says her next paintings will be on canvas to ensure a taut surface). The wristy assurance of the handling speaks of the zest of the drawings, but the reconsideration, the over-painting, is a rearranging legacy of the collages. Hue and more complicated working of colour are what most distin- guish the new from the old. Acid yellows. and greens vie with warmer pinks and oranges, the whole shot through with purples, magentas,- cold blues and violets. The drawings at AIR, in fairness to their description, were more drawn, even if they too were made by laying acrylic paint on
paper with a brush. • Such is the form of the work, and the form, as before, gives expression to allegorical figures — usually grouped in threes — engaged in the violent, sometimes cruel, always warring, predominantly sad, and invariably triangular, predicaments of social life. One character, not necessarily male, usually dominates another at the ex- pense of a third; but the situation can ap- pear more disparate and complicated. Human beings are often characterised as animals and vegetables, though there is, ap- parently, no specific symbolism intended. The pictures sometimes refer to the artist's own experience, sometimes the inspiration comes from elsewhere, but always it is worked into a story as she goes along. In this she shoWs her debt to folklore and caricature, particularly that of her homeland, expressed in a positive inventory of graphic styles, including Disney. Lack of snobbery is one of her most exemplary traits, especially in the context of English art. She defers to emotion, she delights in graphic invention, however broad its au-• dience. Her sense of design is impeccable and would seem innate, but her colour can fail to exploit it (for instance, on the left of `Make-up Lesson') and she is a beginner when it comes to printmaking; as for the grandeur of the collages, that will surely come with canvas and an increase of size and ambition.
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