The Week - UK (2021-07-17)

32 ARTS

THEWEEK 17 July 2021

Art

NobodyeveraccusedPaula

Regoofholdingback,said

EleanorNairneinTheNew

YorkTimes.Sheis“thekind

ofartistwhopaintsasoldierin

aleopard-printgimpmask”,a

womancuttingoffamonkey’s

tail,or“thedevil’swifein

nippletassels”.Herartmixes

folkloreand“fetishistic

menace”,enchantmentand

horror–andit“lingers

powerfullyinthemind”.Rego

wasborninPortugalin 19 35,

buthasbeenlargelyresidentin

Englandsincethe1950s:her

liberalparentssenthertoa

finishingschoolinKentand

thenartcollegeinLondonto

escapetherepressiveregimeof

dictatorAntóniodeOliveira

Salazar.Inheradoptedhome-

land, though largelyignored

untilthe 1980s,she hasbecome

anunlikely “nationaltreasure”

and DameCommander.Now

she isgettingthe UK’s highest

artistic accolade:afull-scale

retrospectiveatTateBritain. The exhibitionis “the biggestand

mostcomprehensive” displayofRego’sworkheldin the UKto

date,said FlorenceHallettinTheiPaper. Bringingtogether

paintings,drawingsandprintsdatingfromevery stage ofher

seven-decade career,it ispackedwith“brilliant,shocking”

pictures thatcumulatively represent“anavalancheoffemale

experience”. Make nomistake: itisa“magnificent” achievement.

The show couldhardlybemoreof-the-moment,saidAlastair

Sookein TheDailyTelegraph.The Regoit gives usis“afierce

tutelary deityforthe#MeToogeneration”,afeminist“avenging

angel”whosework“perpetually demonises blokesas bogeymen”.

The earliestworkhere,Interrogation(1950)–aprotestagainst

the abortion lawsoftheSalazarregime–depictsaseated woman

surroundedby“uniformed thugs”with“bulgingcrotches”;itis

“asmuchamanifestoasa

canvas”,andsetsthetone for

thecascadeofwarpedand

violentimagerytocome.The

Policeman’sDaughter(1987)

hasayoungwomanarm-deep

inajackboot.Thefather

glimpsedin1 98 8’sTheFamily

isbeing“forcefullyundressed

byhisfemalekin”.Presumably

heisundergoingsomesortof

righteousretribution:“payback

time,daddy”.Iam“notRego’s

biggestfan”–Ifindherwork

“excessivelyillustrativeand

didactic”.Andinthelater

years,shehastendedto“over-

stuffhercompositionswith

denseimagery”,resultingin

“silly,incoherent”pictureslike

1994’sTheBarn.Nevertheless,

Iwouldhaveto“concedethat

thisisan excellentexhibition”,

whichdoesjusticetoa

fascinatingcareer.

“Regoisphenomenal,but

thisexhibition won’tlet you

immerseyourselfinherworld,”saidJonathanJonesinThe

Guardian. The works here arehungon“int rusivelycoloured

walls” andpairedwithreductivecaptionsthatrepeatedly try

to “batter”the “subtle strangeness”ofRego’sworkinto“crude

politicalmessages”. Yetgiven the numberof modernmasterpieces

here,ithardlymatters.Amongthebestarea“surrealand

mysterious”triptychofpaintingsbased onHogarth’sMarriage

A-la-Mode; 198 8’s “spine-tingling”moonlitbeachsceneThe

Dance;and perhapsbestofall,an extraordinaryscene titledDog

Woman,inwhichtheimage’s eponymous subject“goesdown

on allfoursand contorts herfaceasif she isbarkingor howling”.

She couldbebeingdictatedto by“an invisible man,grunting

commands”. Thenagain,shemightbe “suffering forGod”.Allin

all,ifyou canovercometheslight “irritations”of this exhibition,

you will find much“greatart”onshow here.

Exhibition of the week Paula Rego

Tate Britain, London SW1 (020-7887 8888, tate.org.uk). Until 24 October

TheFamily(1988):paybacktime?

©P

AULA REGO

News from the art world

The fourthplinth

The sculptures that will occupy Trafalgar

Square’s vacant Fourth Plinth for the next few

years were announced last week, said Jawad

Iqbal in The Times. In the past, the scheme to fill

the platform with contemporary art has produced

some admirable results. But it seems now that

the Fourth Plinth commission risks becoming “a

national joke”. The first work, to be installed next

year, is Samson Kambalu’sAntelope,asculpture

of Malawian preacher and independence hero

John Chilembwe towering overaBritish

missionary; the second, by the Mexican artist

Teresa Margolles, features plaster casts of the

faces of 850 transgender people arranged into

the form of “a Mesoamerican skull rack”. Coming

at amoment of “polarised” debate surrounding

public statues, they appear to have been chosen

not for any artistic merit, but “to tick the box of

fashionable political orthodoxies”. These pieces

certainly “sail straight into the storms of Britain’s culture wars”,

said Jackie Wullschläger in the FT. Yet in aesthetic terms,

Margolles’s work is “compelling”. Kambalu’s effort is impressive

too:a“timely” response to the statues of

Colston, Rhodes and the like that fill Britain’s

public spaces. The best Fourth Plinth works have

always explored “Britain’s relationship with the

world”; by this rationale, Kambalu’s elegant

proposal is an unqualified success.

Edinburgh’s “poop emoji” hotel

The skyline of Scotland’s capital has an

unfortunate new landmark, says Oliver

Wainwright in The Guardian. Bearingastriking

resemblance to the widely-shared “poop emoji”,

on account of its distinctive bronze coil, the

Whotel in Edinburgh’s historic New Town is

visible from nearly “every prospect” of the

From some angles, it has the air of

unfortunate deposit, dropped from

high”; from others, it looms like a

menacing dung heap”. Its defenders

aim it isa“happy” design, likening it to

a“spiral of orange peel ora“walnut whip”. Yet it is known

online as “the golden turd”, while locals, with typical directness,

have nicknamed it “the jobby”.

WHotel: “the golden turd”

visible

city.F

“an

on

“m

cla

orangepeel”o