Underdogs celebrates the 25th of April with the launch of a special series of editions by seven Portuguese artists who, although they did not experience the revolution firsthand, grew up with its legacy deeply embedded in the fabric of society. This year marks 51 years since the Carnation Revolution — a historical moment that ended decades of dictatorship and restored democracy in Portugal. The works emerged from an invitation by Underdogs to engage in a dialogue with iconic photographs by Alfredo Cunha — one of Portugal’s most important photojournalists. With a sharp and sensitive eye, Cunha captured defining moments of April 25, 1974, immortalising expressions of freedom, confrontation, silence, and hope.

Each artist was invited to choose, reflect on, and respond to one of these images, inviting viewers to step into a portal through time and offering a new, personal reading of the past. Originally presented in the exhibition Portais do Tempo, held at the former Lisnave shipyards in Almada in 2023, these powerful works are now being relaunched as limited editions — produced in the same format and with identical margins. Each edition will be sold at the same price, making them accessible to a wider audience and reaffirming the importance of keeping alive the reflection on what freedom means, and what it continues to mean, today.

Pedro Gramaxo reinterprets one of Alfredo Cunha’s most subtle yet striking images — a close-up of two soldiers’ helmets reflecting the light. Fascinated by this interplay between form, symbolism, and atmosphere, Gramaxo creates his own photographic response: a composition captured in the landscape of Grândola, a place forever linked to the revolution through the song Grândola, Vila Morena. In his image, two illuminated forms emerge from the darkness, suggesting portals to an imagined future. As in Cunha’s original, light becomes both subject and metaphor.

Born from this unprecedented collaboration, the project stands as a heartfelt tribute to the women of rural Portugal and the stories that shaped the country. The editions originate from a monumental concrete portrait evoking the internal migrations of the twentieth century, an image of resilience, labour, and transformation. 

Developed on industrial canvas, each piece begins with Vhils’ screen-printed foundation and is completed with Joana Vasconcelos’ meticulous handcrafted interventions. The Normal Editions feature feather compositions, while the Artist’s Proofs combine feathers with embroidered elements. Though rooted in the same 100 × 140 cm image, every work is entirely unique, a meeting of subtraction and addition that yields endless possibilities.

Emerging from Fintan Magee’s ongoing exploration of the relationship between painting, photography, and lived experience, The Travellers draws on a photograph taken by the artist in the Kyiv metro, where underground stations continue to serve as bomb shelters during the war. Depicting two children absorbed in a television programme while waiting below the city, the work captures a quiet moment in which the routines of everyday life persist amid uncertainty.

Characteristic of Magee’s recent practice, the image is deliberately blurred, dissolving the boundaries between documentation and painterly interpretation. Rather than obscuring the scene, this visual instability becomes a narrative device, evoking both movement and unease. Balancing intimacy with fragility, the work reflects on the resilience of ordinary life while reminding us that beneath moments of apparent normality lies a world shaped by conflict, impermanence, and constant change.

Emerging from Matthew Stone's ongoing exploration of layered realities, this work brings together movement, colour, and gestural forms into a composition where multiple visual and emotional dimensions coexist. Surfaces overlap, painted marks create shifting depths, while material and simulated spaces dissolve into one another, reflecting the complexity of contemporary experience.

Characteristic of Stone's practice, the digital and the physical are not positioned in opposition, but exist as complementary layers within the same pictorial language. Image, gesture, surface, and presence continuously intersect, creating a visual field where complexity gives way to moments of stillness and connection. Balancing movement with quiet contemplation, the work reflects on how, within an increasingly layered world, new ways of being fully human can continue to emerge.

"Afterglow” embodies Paul Insect’s fascination with masks, identity, and the fragmented theatre of everyday life. With striking detail and his iconic graphic cut-outs, the work radiates both humour and depth — a vibrant reminder of the beauty in imperfection and the authenticity that shines through when appearances fade.