"Bright Red” brings together new works by Portuguese artist José Pedro Cortes. The title alludes to a visual deficiency very common in human males, a mild color blindness that shifts the color red (or what is known as red) to green, changing the reading of the color spectrum. This implies that, as a compensation mechanism, many color-blind men “read” the color red in context and not as stand-alone information. Using this example as a metaphor, Cortes underlines that it is through contextual reading that we know what a certain color is, and, in a broader sense, how to interpret the world around us.

His photographs – being landscapes, portraits or still lives – function as a map of visual possibilities. Like Cortes says: “The time of my images reflects our time of constant doubt: impulse or fabrication, vulnerability or strength, surface or something more.”

José Pedro Cortes (*1976, Porto, PT), completed a Master of Arts in Photography at Kent Institute of Art and Design (Rochester, UK). His work has been published and exhibited internationally. Besides his artistic photographic work, he is the founder and editor of Pierre von Kleist editions. He lives and works in Lisbon.

With kind support from:

República Portuguesa – Cultura /
Direção-Geral das Artes
Botschaft Portugal / Camões Berlim

Bright Red

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