Paula Rego and the School of London

Talk

April 19, 2023 / 19:00

On the occasion of Paula Rego’s first solo exhibition in Istanbul, Pera Museum in collaboration with the British Council is hosting Elena Crippa, the Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary British Art at Tate Britain, and Paula Rego: The Story of Stories’ curator Alistair Hicks for a talk. The event will focus on London art schools during the 1960s and 70s through the lens of Paula Rego’s education at the prestigious The Slade School of Fine Art.

By the time Rego settled permanently in London in 1972, British figurative painting had become associated with a small group of artists known as the “School of London”, including Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and R.B. Kitaj. This talk will reflect on Rego’s training and address how her paintings responded to, playfully engaged with and differed from the work of fellow London-based painters. It will discuss formal similarities and differences and the breadth of Rego’s sources of inspiration.

The event will be held in Pera Museum Auditorium and is free of charge. Places are limited, reservations are not accepted. The language of the event is English, and Turkish simultaneous translation will be provided.

About Elena Crippa
Elena Crippa is the Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary British Art at Tate Britain, London, overseeing activities across research, acquisition and collection displays. She has edited and contributed to numerous publications, curated the exhibitions Paula Rego (2021), Frank Bowling (2019) and All Too Human (2018), and co-curated the 2022 commission Hew Locke: The Procession. Her exhibitions of painters associated with the School of London have been presented at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2016; Museo Picasso, Malaga, 2017; AROS Kunstmuseum, Aarhus, 2017-18; The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, 2019; and Chiostro del Bramante, Roma, 2019. 

About Alistair Hicks
Alistair Hicks is a writer and art curator based in London. He was chief curator of the Deutsche Bank Collection for many years and is the author of many publications, including Urban Mirrors: Reflections from the Artists of Istanbul, Global Art Compass, A Voyage around Our Minds, School of London, New British Art in the Saatchi Collection and Contemporary Art at Deutsche Bank. Among the exhibitions Hicks has curated at Pera Museum are The Time Needs Changing, Doublethink Doublevision and Paula Rego: The Story of Stories.

Temporary Exhibition

Paula Rego

Paula Rego is a Portuguese/British artist who revolutionised the ways women are represented and is not one to compromise her truths. The Story of Stories shows how Rego authentically confronts oppression, authority, and institutional violence while not being afraid to reveal her own personal nature and socio-political context.

Paula Rego

Mersad Berber

Mersad Berber

Mersad Berber was born in Bosanski Petrovac, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, on January 1st. He was the first son of Muhammed Berber and Sadika Berber, a well-known weaver and embroiderer. A year later, the family moved to Banja Luka after the city had suffered damage from the World War II.

Journey to the East

Journey to the East

Pera Museum presents an exhibition of French artist Félix Ziem, one of the most original landscape painters of the 19th century. This week we are sharing Ziem’s work inspired by Istanbul and “the East”! 

Nudes With Mirrors

Nudes With Mirrors

Although mythological themes are not commonly encountered in Turkish painting, it is possible to see variations of widespread themes such as the Venus at her Toilet.