Exhibition of Pedro Cabrita Reis receives 7,800 visitors in three months

A shows, which revisits the Via Sacra, reveals 14 paintings unpublished in dialogue with the history of European painting, and will be patent until November 22 at the Magazzino del Sale 3, in Venice, integrated into the parallel program of the Venice Biennale.

According to the statement released, the turnout of visitors “confirms the strong adherence of the public to a project independent of the Portuguese artist”.

The initiative is organized by the artist in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice and Venice Art Factory, outside the official Portuguese representation, which presents the project “RedSkyFalls”, by Alexandre Estrela, curated by Ana Baliza and Ricardo Nicolau, installed at the Palacio Fondaco Marcello, in the historic centre of Venice.

The exhibition “XIV Steps” – a “personal view” of Cabrita Reis da Paixão de Cristo – consists of 14 large-format diptychs inspired by the stations of Via Sacra, a proposal that the artist defines as a reflection on the history of European painting.

In an interview with the agency Lusa shortly before the inauguration, the artist explained that the choice of the theme of the Via Sacra did not result from a religious motivation, but from interest in the European pictorial tradition.

“ This theme interests me, not necessarily for reasons of theological or religious order, but because it is a transversal theme in the history of European painting, and to me what interests me as an artist is to reflect uniquely and exclusively on the History of Painting ", he said.

The 14 diptychs executed in oil correspond to the stations of the Passion of Christ, proposing a contemporary reading of the Via Sacra as a reflection on violence, the human condition and the possibility of redemption.

The exhibition is described by the artist as a contemporary view of this “Passion”, understood simultaneously as suffering and delivery, and at the same time as reflection on the human condition linked to oppression and the need for overcoming and redemption.

“It is a story of horror and passion, of pain, also understood here as a gift that is embodied in death. These paintings bring murmurs of an ancient history and, through them, a contemporary cry of refusal comes to us before the perpetuation of violence and the annihilation of hope”, considered the artist born in 1956, one of the most influential and international figures of contemporary Portuguese art.

At the time, the artist also rejected the idea of a return to painting: “It is not a return to painting, it is a continuation of what I am structurally. I am a painter who also makes sculptures, and I am actually an artist of multidisciplinary practice ", told Lusa.

Born in Lisbon, Pedro Cabrita Reis is one of the most recognized figures of contemporary Portuguese art, with a career of five decades.

His work includes international collections such as Tate Modern in London, the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the National Museum of Art Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Tamayo Museum of Contemporary Art in Mexico City, and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Canada.

This is the sixth presence of the artist in Venice during the Biennial, after official participations and independent projects, including the Portuguese representation in 2003 and the interventions “A Remote Whisper”, in 2013, and “Field”, in 2022.

In 2024, Pedro Cabrita Reis presented in Lisbon the retrospective exhibition “Atelier”, dedicated to five decades of artistic creation, bringing together about 1,500 works and attracting more than 17,000 visitors.