Paula Rego doesn’t do mild. Intense is closer to the mark, especially works dealing with issues – like abortion – that affect women. In these works, and others, her female figures seem empowered. The renowned “dog-woman” series shows female figures in dog-like poses, yet all possessed of an indomitable spirit. As one critic says “exhilarating, at times alarming”.
Haring had the first of many gallery shows while still a teenager. Some think his work facile, perhaps because it was developed on the street or because of its joyful graphic style. But Haring’s deft humour helped address serious issues like AIDS and his prescient concern with the impact of technology. His style remains immensely influential.
Superb, museum-quality shows like this are rarely seen in private galleries. On top of this, the reviewer thinks Bacon’s already lofty reputation warrants further elevation. Works portraying sexual battle showcase his style of being both “precise and ungraspable”. “This exhibition makes a great case for Bacon as [Picasso’s] true heir: the only artist who could add to Picasso’s metamorphic lexicon of the human figure.”
Can an artist be too diverse? Goncharova’s vast output was surely, in part, a reflection of her life. Raised in not-quite-modern Russia she made folkloric-styled modernist paintings and books. Her later life in avant garde Paris brought acclaim for her costumes and sets for Ballets Russes. “Everything she did was fully realised and extremely powerful, yet … she remains enigmatic.”
Ringgold’s work is political, intense. It thus surprises how often it is called colourful – even “pretty”. She started with painting and posters but moved to “populist” quilts, a form women have long used for story telling. The art world can be sniffy about textiles but they suited Ringgold, their textures and colours expressing her “exuberance and optimism” in the face of angry subject matter.