Gil Heitor Cortesão studied art in Lisbon in the 1990s and has been exhibiting his work from early in his career. His oeuvre is noted for the use of a technique that consists of applying paint on Perspex, enabling him to project and construct his images “inversely”. As art critic Óscar Faria put it, “using methacrylate, a transparent material, also allows him to reinforce the liquid dimension that emerges from his work”. One might add that it is precisely that atmospheric quality – in which the material limits are blurred but also those of the space and time in which the images are located – that gives these paintings their capacity to create a feeling of estrangement and melancholy in the viewer. This effect generates discomfort and unease, reinforced by the recurrent themes of his images; a collection of interiors and exteriors referencing the architecture of the 1960s and 1970s and natural spaces. These locations are almost entirely devoid of any human presence, with at most a solitary figure or a group of unidentifiable subjects.
Gil Heitor Cortesão’s work has been exhibited frequently at galleries in Paris, Lisbon, Dubai and São Paulo. His pictures have also been included in shows at institutions such as the Cibeles Centre (Madrid, 2014); the Alcobendas Art Centre (Madrid, 2014); the Fundação Serralves (Oporto, Portugal, 2016); the Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (Luxembourg 2007); and the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Lisbon, 2004 and 2016).
Gil Heitor Cortesão studied art in Lisbon in the 1990s and has been exhibiting his work from early in his career. His oeuvre is noted for the use of a technique that consists of applying paint on Perspex, enabling him to project and construct his images “inversely”. As art critic Óscar Faria put it, “using methacrylate, a transparent material, also allows him to reinforce the liquid dimension that emerges from his work”. One might add that it is precisely that atmospheric quality – in which the material limits are blurred but also those of the space and time in which the images are located – that gives these paintings their capacity to create a feeling of estrangement and melancholy in the viewer. This effect generates discomfort and unease, reinforced by the recurrent themes of his images; a collection of interiors and exteriors referencing the architecture of the 1960s and 1970s and natural spaces. These locations are almost entirely devoid of any human presence, with at most a solitary figure or a group of unidentifiable subjects.
Gil Heitor Cortesão’s work has been exhibited frequently at galleries in Paris, Lisbon, Dubai and São Paulo. His pictures have also been included in shows at institutions such as the Cibeles Centre (Madrid, 2014); the Alcobendas Art Centre (Madrid, 2014); the Fundação Serralves (Oporto, Portugal, 2016); the Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (Luxembourg 2007); and the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Lisbon, 2004 and 2016).