macabre fairytales !

Paula Rego often takes fairy tales, such as Snow White or Alice in Wonderland, and paints characters or scenes with an added twist. She changes people into animals or adds a feeling of the macabre or creepy.

In some paintings she looks at bullying in the family and at political persecution. Her figures often show intense emotion or are arranged in slightly odd and disturbing groupings.

Here, in Swallows the Poisoned Apple, Snow White has collapsed from her modern armchair and has been painted as if she is a middle-aged woman instead of a young girl. Rego shows the fairy tale, but in a modern, suburban setting.

Listen to four short interviews with Rego: on childhood, women, family and stories; her father introducing her to opera and dada; the red monkey, the humour in her work; her painting process, her fear of nature.

Watch a video interview with images of her work here ...