Pinakotheke São Paulo is pleased to invite you to the opening of the exhibition “Encounter/Confrontation – Hélio Oiticica and Waldemar Cordeiro”, which will take place on March 22, 2025, at 11 AM. The exhibition brings together works by two of the most important Brazilian artists of the 20th century, who actively participated in the Neoconcrete and Concrete movements, advocating distinct artistic paths in the 1950s and 1960s.
The research and interests that drove Hélio Oiticica (1937–1980) and Waldemar Cordeiro (1925–1973) followed parallel trajectories, which over time became diluted. In Rio de Janeiro, Oiticica was one of the leading figures of Neoconcretism, while in São Paulo, Cordeiro became the foremost spokesperson for the Concrete movement. The intellectual clashes between these two groups played a crucial role in Brazilian art history.
In the main hall of Pinakotheke São Paulo, 18 works by Hélio Oiticica and 19 by Waldemar Cordeiro—sourced from public and private collections—will be presented side by side, fostering an encounter that revisits, with the perspective of time, the dialogues and confrontations between these two artists.Conceived by Max Perlingeiro, the exhibition’s curatorship is shared with artist Luciano Figueiredo, one of the leading experts on Hélio Oiticica’s work, and Paulo Venancio Filho, a researcher specializing in both movements. In addition to offering a historical reflection, the exhibition also celebrates the centenary of Waldemar Cordeiro’s birth.