Galerie Lelong & Co. is pleased to announce the opening of Hélio Oiticica: To Organize Delirium at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the most comprehensive retrospective of the Brazilian artist in the United States to date.
One of the most influential artists of the twentieth century, Oiticica created work that sought to awaken the senses by making viewer participation an essential element by which to experience his work. The Whitney Museum of American Art examines in depth Oiticica's brief yet prolific career, with a particular focus on the decisive period he spent in New York in the 1970s. Oiticica was a pivotal member of the Neo-Concrete group, a movement of Brazilian artists that formed in 1959 seeking to impart the geometric investigations of Concretism with emotion, sensuality, and subjectivity. Between 1954-57, Oiticica was also part of Grupo Frente, a Rio de Janeiro-based artist collective that is the subject of the exhibition currently on view at Galerie Lelong through August 5, 2017.
To Organize Delirium presents a multifaceted look at Oiticica's vast body of work, from his geometric abstractions, Metaesquemas, to the translation of ideas into the third dimension. Oiticica's inquiries into the potential of architectural space include Penetrables and Tropicália (1967), multi-sensorial and colorful structures inspired by the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. Tropicália, a large-scale installation featuring sand, gravel, exotic birds, and plants, rebelled against Brazil's oppressive military dictatorship and rightwing conservatism by embracing a purely Brazilian art. Viewers will also have the opportunity to participate in Oiticica's interactive works by wearing his Parangolés, works in fabric that reveal political or poetic messages when in motion. These works highlight how Oiticica insisted upon the power and potential of human autonomy and social interaction.
This is the last chance to see the exhibition, which debuted at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, and travelled to the Art Institute of Chicago. It is organized by Lynn Zelevansky, The Henry J. Heinz II Director, Carnegie Museum of Art; Elisabeth Sussman, Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography, Whitney Museum of American Art; James Rondeau, President and Eloise W. Martin Director, Art Institute of Chicago; and Donna De Salvo, Deputy Director for International Initiatives and Senior Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art; with Anna Katherine Brodbeck, Associate Curator, Carnegie Museum of Art. Galerie Lelong & Co. is proud to have collaborated with the Projeto Hélio Oiticica since 2005, presenting seminal works such as Penetrables in 2012, Drawings: 1954-58 in 2009, and CC1 Trashiscapes in 2006.
For more information, please visit the museum
website.
