henrique oliveira: 'baitogogo' at palais de tokyo, paris

a complex network of organic material invades the architecture at the palais de tokyo in paris, in brazilian artist henrique oliveira‘s ‘baitogogo’. the installation is a matrix of sculptural vegetation — unraveling, twisting, and plunging from existing pillars and beams. the massive form is both a hybrid of mediums and disciplines as well as a dimensional synthesis of site-specific structural elements. oliveira, known for his architectural integrations, manipulates the space by both extending and multiplying the columns, encasing the viewer in a dizzying circuit of knotted, root-like material. in a communion of urban design, plant life, and biology, the artist generates an immense audience reaction to the unexpected fusion of sculpture and space.

henrique oliveira, ‘baitogogo’ | view of the exposition at palais de tokyo, paris
photo © andré morin (also main image)

oliveira’s structural components are recycled from the brazilian urban landscape, consisting mainly of tapume wood sticks. the common construction material is typical to sao paolo streets, used to build fences or to isolate development sites from public access. using reclaimed wood native to his home as a medium, he references his brazilian culture and identity and reveals the physical and societal decay of much of the city’s urban fabric. oliveira draws influence from medical texts, biology and the study of physical pathologies such as tumors — evident in the complexity of his web-like structures, which liken themselves to the inter-connectivity of a human neural network.

photo © andré morin

photo © andré morin

photo © andré morin

photo © marc domage

photo © marc domage

photo © marc domage