An exhibition I am sorry I think I will miss: Paula Rego at the Tate. Rego's work was largely unfamiliar to me.

"Rego grew up in Portugal under the Salazar dictatorship, witnessed many injustices and consistently sided with the victims of abuse and prejudice." She went to Slade like many of our School of London artists, and was also praised by David Sylvester who was so instrumental to them as well.

One of the things she has consistently addressed are issues around women and suppression. On my mind today of course is the confounding and extremely disturbing non ruling of the Supreme Court over the Texas abortion law.

Rego did a series of pastels and drawings in response to the legalization of abortion in Portugal in 1998. These remind me of the hyper reality of Alice Neel's pregnant women--only on the other, darker side. Rego wanted to show the aftermath of illegal abortions--which is where some poor Texas women are going to certainly end up. This is one, Untitled, 1998.

"I want to draw a real person who has an everyday story," she once said. Alas all too soon this aftermath will become an everyday story.

Rego has chosen to take figuration to a political level. It takes a certain courage to be responsive to cataclysmic world events. Now no artist need search for topics as the daily onslaught is overwhelming.