Paula Rego’s Beautiful Boschian Menageries at Victoria Miro

For Paula Rego, the 1980s was a decade of freedom and exploration. Throughout this period, the Portuguese artist produced paintings in brilliant colours which are intriguing, humorous, and personal.

Letting Loose (22 September–11 November 2023) at Victoria Miro in London traces Rego’s return to her childhood devotion to painting as play. The paintings feature crowds of bizarre creatures, animals with human characteristics, and women running, riding, and wrestling.

From pets playing musical instruments in The Musicians – Cat and Guinea Pig (1981), to women cavorting with giant birds in Marathon (Running II) (1983), these paintings represent a dramatic change in Rego’s practice, embracing playful ways to express her inner world where previously she had mainly focused on making collage-based works.

In and Out of The Sea AKA The Raft (1985) sees a lone woman sitting at the centre of a whirlpool of mythical creatures. Drawn with stark, black outlines reminiscent of children’s book illustrations, Rego’s characters evoke the artist’s childhood memories, while exploring the desires and discontentments of human relationships.