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Henrique Oliveira was born in Ourinhos-SP, Brazil, in 1973. He moved to the city of São Paulo in 1990, where he graduated and had a Masters in Visual Arts at the University of São Paulo (USP).

Moving through the territories of sculpture, painting and architecture, Henrique Oliveira’s immersive environments and hybrid spaces bring back the original nature of materials to re-define their ordinary use. A wide range of references can be noticed in his works. From science-fiction and medical text to Art History and psychoanalysis, these subjects converge into a personal visual language that merges biomorphic images and urban materiality. Perception of space, surface and consistency are often destabilized in his creations, weakening categories otherwise taken as secure means of organizing our understanding of everyday-life. In some of his constructions, especially in those made into the architecture, the public is attracted into situations of discomfort while his sculptural interventions act to blur the borders between sensuality and abjection. Raising existential and political issues implicit in the notions of death and decay, many times these works play the role of a contemporary mirror, reflecting the position of mankind in the world and its relationship with nature and the environment. 

Among his most notable exhibitions are “Baitogogo” at the Palais de Tokyo - Paris (2013) and “Transarquitetonica” at the Museu de Arte Contemporânea - São Paulo, Brasil (2014). Important group shows include:  Bruges Triennale, Belgium (2021), “Brasiliana - Installation from 1960 to the present” at Schirn Kunsthalle - Frankfurt, Germany (2013); “Object in Flux” at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, USA (2015) and the 29th Bienal de São Paulo - São Paulo, Brasil (2010). He has received prominent awards from Japan, France and Brazil. Some of his works are in collections including: the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (USA) and the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (Brisbane, Australia). He also has installations permanently on view in Les Jardins Suspendus, Le Havre and Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire (both in France) and Arte Sella, Italy.

For further information: www.henriqueoliveira.com

Lecture Details:
Thursday December 2 at 12:30pm

Join Zoom Lecture at:
https://uiowa.zoom.us/j/95115488522?pwd=U1Voc1czTi9JUTVwc25HRzIvS1d1QT09

Meeting ID: 951 1548 8522
Passcode: 081665