Jute, fabric, wood shavings, and plastics
Not on view
Hélio Oiticica described his capes, or parangolés, as a manifestation of color in the surrounding space: “The viewer ‘wears’ the cape, which is formed by layers of colored fabric revealed as he moves, runs, or dances. The work demands the body’s direct involvement; the cape not only clothes the body, but also urges it to move, to dance.” Oiticica steered his art in the direction of participative action after spending time in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, or shantytowns, in 1964.
To inaugurate his parangolés, Oiticica asked his friends from the Mangueira favela to wear these works and come to the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro. They were, however, barred from entering. If the parangolés questioned the museum’s criteria for what is considered art, their activation by favela residents highlighted the racial and class tensions of a society riddled with social inequality. This parangolé hides within its pockets two objects: a plastic bag and a banner displaying the sentence “From adversity we live,” a political embrace of precariousness.
Sur moderno: Journeys of Abstraction—The Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Gift, October 21, 2019–March 14, 2020
Provenance
1992, Reconstruction for Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, Netherlands, "HELIO OITICICA”
1992 - 1995, Estate of Luciano Figueiredo.
1995 - 2016, Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, New York, and Caracas, acquired as gift from Estate of Luciano Figueiredo.
2016, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, acquired as promised gift from Patricia Phelps de Cisneros.
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Participatory art
When artists include members of the public in their creative process and encourage them to become co-authors of the work.
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