Locus Solus

Gil Heitor Cortesão (born 1967 in Lisbon) takes apart the modernist utopia of the last century layer after layer. The portuguese artist paints places that are generally empty (private apartments or public spaces) in a style that at first glance seems realist, and yet stirs a vague feeling of unease. The strangeness comes primarily from the fact that on each occasion he insinuates something disturbing into these spaces: it may be furniture we have trouble identifying, a huge dark patch in the middle of a meeting room or a map of Europe sketched on the wall of an apparently modern apartment. This strangeness is heightened by the disconcerting appearance of the image; it looks like a worn photograph.