Portuguese Artist Pedro Cabrita Reis, on the occasion of the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, returns to Venice at Magazzino del Sale 3 - Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia with a radically different gesture: XIV

The theoretical and formal richness of Cabrita Reis’ work unfolds through an anthropological reflection that resists sociological reductionism. Meaning emerges through silence, fragmentation, and attentive inquiry rather than through explicit narrative or ideological assertion. Central to his practice is an uncompromising belief in artistic freedom. As the artist states:

“Artists, in the freedom of their practice, are not, should not, be constrained by political, moral or religious limitations of any kind. On the contrary, every topic, subject, or theme becomes a challenge, a matter of thought, a place for interrogations.”

This is the case of XIV Steps, the latest Venetian exhibition by Pedro Cabrita Reis; the 14 diptych paintings that Cabrita Reis created especially for Venice in 2026. Here the Artist engages with the dramatic narrative structure of the Stations of the Cross, a theme whose resonance extends far beyond its theological origins. As famously observed by Barnett Newman, the Stations articulate a universal reflection on suffering, endurance, and the human condition, dimensions that find renewed expression in this cycle of paintings.