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Arts world backs Rego in fight to save her studio
Daniel Carrier27 Jun 2008
Leading figures in the arts world are rallying to save the back-street Camden Town studio of acclaimed artist Paula Rego.
Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota and sculptor Anthony Caro are backing Rego, 73, in her fight against a development she believes will harm her ability to work.
A planning application has been submitted for flats on the roof of a garage next to the studio in Rochester Place where she has worked since 1993. She says the building would restrict the light that currently floods her studio.
The artist, who was nominated for the Turner Prize in 1989 and whose work is collected by the Tate and famous fans such as Madonna, is alarmed at the increase in the height of the proposed flats.
She said: "I have seen the plans and they will affect my light, casting a shadow across my work area. It will change the way I work. I have been using a lot of pastels and light is allimportant for my art. It will affect what I can create."
Rego has spoken before of the "marvellous daylight" that pours into the former industrial warehouse through skylights. It was the "perfect studio", she said.
Sir Nicholas called on Camden council to dismiss the application.
"The character of Camden Town depends on the presence of small creative businesses and a very mixed community, including artists," he said. "It is essential that good and affordable studios continue to be available to artists in the area.
"For this reason, I am sorry to learn that Paula Rego's studio may be under threat from redevelopment." Rego was born in Portugal but has lived in Britain since coming to study at Slade School of Fine Art. She lives in Hampstead not far from her studio.
Camden has a long tradition of housing artists, from Walter Sickert to Frank Auerbach.
Nino De Angelis, the garage owner who submitted the application, has worked on the site for 35 years and bought the freehold three years ago.
He said he was not in a position to build the flats now as he would have to close his garage business for a year.
But he added: "I may like to sell the property when I retire and I have been advised I would get more if I had planning permission for the flats upstairs. I have no intention of putting the flats in yet."
