2nd Edition Paula Rego Prize
26 October, 2017 to 15 January, 2018
Selection of works: Paula Rego
Curator: Catarina Alfaro
Paula Rego says that one of the most striking events in her life
was the prize she received during the annual Summer Composition
competition, while still a student at the Slade School of Fine Art
in London in 1954. This award had a decisive influence on her
commitment to building a unique and personal figurative territory,
in which her pictorial creation is inspired by literature. Based on
the general theme proposed in the competition - Dylan Thomas' radio
play Under Milk Wood about a fishing community in Wales -
the young Portuguese student felt encouraged to heed advice that
she had received shortly before: paint what you know, or 'paint
what's going on inside your head.' In her portrayal of Dylan
Thomas' play, the artist drew on her childhood memories of the
kitchen of her paternal grandmother's home in Portugal, distancing
herself from the geographical reality described by the writer, to
transfer her own personal universe to the painting. Paula states
today that this prize was the most remarkable event of her life,
and gave her the necessary confidence to continue painting in a
context that she found difficult - as a woman and a foreigner.
From October 2017 to January 2018, the Museum's Gallery 0 will
host the second edition of the Paula Rego Prize - an initiative
that aims to encourage students from Lisbon Fine Arts School by
exhibiting and rewarding their talent for storytelling through
drawing. The exhibition features works by young students from that
school, chosen by Paula Rego.
The Paula Rego Prize is above all an acquisition prize - the
winning work will be added to Paula Rego's private collection. The
prize will be announced on November 23, together with launch of a
catalogue of the exhibition of the selected works. The competition,
exhibition and catalogue are a vigorous incentive for young fine
arts students, helping to ensure their full revelation in the
contemporary artistic universe. As in the previous edition, the
second edition is aimed at B.A. Hons and Master's degree
students.
Catarina Alfaro
Programming and Conservation Coordinator of the Casa das
Histórias Paula Rego