Dame Paula Rego
Angel, 1998. Photograph: Carlos Pombo/© Paula Rego, courtesy Marlborough International Fine Art
In a world where the female form is being reclaimed in the media and on instagram, where young women are finally looking to their own hearts and minds for confidence, where normal has become fluid because what is “normal” after all, last week came as quite a shock.
People all over the world were stunned to hear the news that the state of Texas in the USA has banned abortion (let’s not split hairs, most women wouldn’t know they were pregnant at 6 weeks) and it looks more than likely other states will follow with no intervention from the Supreme Court. Along with the news from Afghanistan, the Taliban have seized power and want to send people hurtling back into the dark ages… which is harrowing for everyone, particularly those women who have spoken out. It was a bad week for women, but not all bad news. On the 7th of September 2021, Mexico made abortion legal across the country. A reminder that human rights are not guaranteed but have to be fought for.
So it feels like a reminder from Paula Rego is necessary. Regardless of your beliefs, whether you think abortion is right or wrong, just because you outlaw abortion, doesn’t mean is stops happening. Something far darker and more dangerous occurs.
In this brutal series, the famed artist Dame Paula Rego confronts the truth of abortion. As a viewer, we bear witness to the pain of these young women. The power of the images are in the truth they tell. Rego reminds us of the horror of the backyard abortion, turning the traditional gaze of the viewer into a fly on the wall looking at the real consequences of decisions made by politicians and judges.
Untitled No.5, 1998. PAULA REGO, Courtesy the artist
Untitled No. 4 (1998), Paula Rego. Courtesy Marlborough Fine Art; © Paula Rego
"I tried to do full frontal but I didn't want to show blood, gore or anything to sicken, because people wouldn't look at it then. And what you want to do is make people look, make pretty colours and make it agreeable, and in that way make people look at life." Paula Rego
Excerpt from the exhibition catalogue, Obedience and Defiance, about the Abortion Series
© Paula Rego
© Paula Rego
Paula Rego, Untitled No.1, 1998, pastel on paper. © Paula Rego.
"This is another thing that is not in our culture, which I show in the picture of the girl facing you with her legs up, Lila. There was one point where she looked really triumphant and then something happened in the picture, as if she had been slapped across the face, you see. And then she is being humiliated and yet she is triumphant, completely triumphant. So they are not pictures of victims." Paula Rego
Excerpt from the exhibition catalogue, Obedience and Defiance, about the Abortion Series
