Pedro Cabrita Reis

PEDRO CABRITA REIS (Lisbon, 1956).
“Self-Portrait (The Blind),” 1995.
Pencil on paper.
Bears a label on the reverse from the Juana de Aizpuru Gallery.
Signed, dated, and titled on the reverse.
Measurements: 97 x 140 cm; 105 x 147 cm (frame).
Created in 1995, Self-Portrait (The Blind) is part of a series in which Pedro Cabrita Reis reimagines the self-portrait genre from a deeply conceptual perspective. The work constitutes a reflection on identity, memory, and perception, employing an austere and essential language in which the drawing takes on a distinctly poetic character. The reference to “the blind” does not allude to the absence of sight, but rather to an inner gaze linked to knowledge and experience. As the artist himself has noted, his self-portraits “do not show a gaze directed outward, but inward.” This portrait is part of a series of drawings created in the mid-1990s, a period during which Cabrita Reis explored new ways of representing the human condition through an economy of means and great expressive intensity. The motif of the blind became a recurring theme in his career, later developing into series such as *Os cegos de Praga* (1998), held by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
The year this work was created also marked a decisive moment in the artist’s career, as he represented Portugal at the 1995 Venice Biennale—the beginning of a well-established international profile that would lead him to participate in Documenta in Kassel, the São Paulo Biennial, and to exhibit at institutions such as the Tate Modern in London and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid. The drawings from this period are closely related to his sculptures and installations, sharing the same interest in architecture, space, memory, and the human experience—aspects that have made Pedro Cabrita Reis one of the leading figures in Portuguese contemporary art.
Pedro Cabrita Reis is one of the most prominent figures in Portuguese and international contemporary art. Although he has been highly active in painting and drawing, it was through sculpture and installation that he achieved widespread recognition beginning in the early 1990s. His work is currently represented in major collections, including the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Tate Modern in London, the Centre Pompidou, the MACBA in Barcelona, the IVAM in Valencia, and MoMA PS1 in New York, among many others.