Roots: Oiticica, Hélio (1937 – 1980)

Hélio Oiticica (Rio de Janeiro, 1937 – idem, 1980). Together with his brother, César Oiticica, he began studying painting and drawing with Ivan Serpa at the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro – MAM/RJ [Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro], in 1954. He took part in the Opinião 66 [Opinion 66] and Nova Objetividade Brasileira [New Brazilian Objectivity], presenting the Tropicália environmental demonstration. In 1969, at the Whitechapel Gallery, in London, he realised what he called the Whitechapel Experience, presenting the Éden [Eden] project. For most of the 1970s, he lived in New York, during which period, he was a visiting scholar of the Guggenheim Foundation, taking part in the Information show, at the Museum of Modern Art – MoMA. He returned to Brazil in 1978. After his death, the Projeto Hélio Oiticica [Hélio Oiticica Project] was created in Rio de Janeiro, in 1981, with the aim of preserving, analysing and promoting his work, under the direction of Lygia Pape, Luciano Figueiredo and Waly Salomão [...]