Lisbon-born, London-based Paula Rego has broken countless boundaries with her art. Widely respected for her focus on storytelling, Rego revolutionised how women are portrayed, with canvases telling stories of birth and rape.
This summer, we celebrated a retrospective at Tate Britain that featured more than 100 of Rego’s seminal works including collages, paintings, large-scale pastels and sculpture.
Now, ELLE readers are being given exclusive access to a night viewing of the show with a special talk from the curator of the exhibition. Along with a reception of drinks and nibbles in the foyer throughout the evening.
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The works at the exhibition range from Rego's early work in the 1950s – exploring personal social struggles – alongside the pastels from her Abortion series, which campaigned for legalisation of the procedure in Portugal.
‘I’m proudest of The Pillowman,’ she tells ELLE, of her chilling work inspired by Martin McDonagh’s dark play, which appears in the show.
Taking inspiration from folklore and classic literature, Rego says she’s most inspired by stories from her home country: ‘In the past, my favourite storytelling was mostly traditional Portuguese tales, which are violent and cruel,’ adding, ‘But at the moment, it’s stories about the Virgin Mary.’
Of the exhibition holistically, Rego says: ‘I’ve waited all my life to have a lot of these pictures together. It’s a great honour.’
Prepare to be captivated.
When?
Wednesday October 20, from 7-9pm. There will be talk by one of the exhibition's curators at 7.15pm before access to the exhibition.
Where?
Tate Britain, Paula Rego show
What?
ELLE readers are being given exclusive access to a night viewing of the show. There will be a drinks reception (with nibbles) beforehand and throughout, plus a special talk from the curator of the exhibition.
How?
Send paularego@elleuk.com an email with your full name and up to three guests you’d like to bring by Tuesday October 19, at 10am.
Terms & Conditions
Open to UK residents only. All guests must be ages 18 or over. Each person RSVPing can bring up to three guests, full names must be supplied. There are 200 tickets available, and RSVPs after this point will not be able to gain access. You will be notified if this is the case.
To RSVP to the invitation, send an email to the paularego@elleuk.com inbox. The offer is open from September 28, 2021, through to Tuesday October 19, 2021, at 10am. Emails submitted after the closing date will not be considered. Guests must give the full name of themselves plus any guests that they wish to bring. There will be no charge for entering the event.
We will use the information you supply to process your entry. This will include sharing your name (and guest names) and your email address with Tate Britain to process your ticket. For our Privacy Notice please click here. For Tate Britain’s Privacy Notice click here.
Hearst reserves the right to amend the terms and conditions for this offer at any time without notice. See Hearst's website for full terms and conditions.
During Lena's tenure at ELLE, she has been building the brand’s cultural content and special projects including benchmark events; ELLE Weekender, The ELLE List and The ELLE Style Awards. During her time at the magazine, she’s commissioned essays from Zadie Smith, interviewed everyone from Miley Cyrus to Jodie Comer and made viral videos like ‘More Women’ that shone a light on gender inequality and was seen by millions. As an editor, Lena specialises in travel, music, arts, film and all culture and is an active BAFTA member having sat on a jury for many years. She has written for numerous titles including The Guardian, Vogue and The New York Times.
