Take a look at José Pedro Cortes’ work, evoking staged natural landscapes, a recurring motif in his photographs — in its framing, lighting, arrangement —, while simultaneously capturing the everyday confrontation with this “environment” with its unexpected eruption and abandonment. A testimony to an exhausted nature — a nature morte (still life) in the literal sense —, gives proof of its material quality: the light and colour of these remains reinforce its corporeal quality, which can be felt and smelt.
Cortes had several institutional solo exhibitions, namely ‘One’s Own Arena’ at Museu da Eletricidade/MAAT, (Lisbon, 2015), ‘Costa’ at CGAC – Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea (Santiago de Compostela, 2015) and in 2018 ‘A Necessary Realism, a major exhibition at MNAC, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, spanning 15 years of work.
