Hélio Oiticica was an influential artist and theorist whose work ranged across sculpture, drawing, painting, installation, and performance. His practice helped establish participatory art and offered a distinctive account of abstraction shaped by social, political, and economic realities in Latin America and elsewhere. A leading member of Brazil’s Neoconcrete movement and a co-founder of Tropicália, he stressed spatial awareness and physical involvement.

Among other works, Dia Beacon presents the large environment Grande Núcleo (Grand Nucleus, 1960–66), one of his most immersive constructions. Departing from the flat plane of earlier pieces, Grande Núcleo consists of suspended rectangular panels painted from bright yellow to deep orange and set in a shifting grid of different angles and heights. Throughout the exhibition, the visitor’s body, motion, and sense of time and space are engaged, reflecting Oiticica’s ongoing inquiry into structure, color, and spatial experience.

Hélio Oiticica: Grande Núcleo (Grand Nucleus) (1960–66) / Dia Beacon. September 14, 2026.