José Luis Cortés, ¿Por qué tanto dolor? (Why so much pain?), 2025
Instead of asking, “Why so much meth in the gay community?,” Cortés’s experimental film provokes the deeper question, “Why so much pain?” The film delves into the emotional and social wounds that fuel addiction and risk-taking behaviors.
Commissioned in 2025 as part of Meet Us Where We’re At, a program of six videos that forefront the experiences of drug users and harm reduction practices as they intersect with the ongoing HIV crisis.
︎︎︎ Read more in the resource guide
About the artist
José Luis Cortés (he/him) is an artist who works across painting, performance, and video, best known for artwork inspired by his time in New York City in the early 1990s. A native Philadelphian, Cortés’ very personal work reflects the underbelly of gay life, documenting a life on the fringes of society: of sex workers, addiction, and of a rapidly-changing landscape. Through his work he validates his world and voices his identity as both a gay man and as a Puerto Rican. Cortés’ work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the country as well as in Europe. His work has been reviewed in The New York Times, Art in America, Out Magazine, and many other publications.