Hélio Oiticica & Neville D’Almeida: Cosmococas

Name: Hélio Oiticica & Neville D’Almeida: Cosmococas
Start: 2023-06-29T00:00:00.000+01:00
End: 2023-08-11T00:00:00.000+01:00
Location: 508 West 24th Street

New York, 29 June – 11 August 2023

Lisson Gallery celebrates the 50th anniversary of Hélio Oiticica’s pioneering Cosmococas - Programa in Progress (1973) with a presentation of two works from the seminal series. Developed in collaboration with Brazilian filmmaker Neville D’Almeida, the enveloping installations were an essential facet of what Oiticica termed “quasi-cinemas”. To commemorate the anniversary, the series will be installed throughout the year in cities across the world.

Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1937, Oiticica was a prolific and inquisitive thinker in his short lifetime. Exploring and expanding formal artistic modes and pushing the boundaries of the possibilities of abstraction, sculpture, performance and film, he probed experiential, environmental art and interactive installation. His inherently countercultural practice questioned the entrenched social and institutional framework. Until his untimely death at the age of 42, he continued to invent new modes of art-making, as well as challenge the traditional art-viewing experience.

Oiticica embedded himself the liberationist, underground cultural scene of New York in the 1970s, where he met and collaborated with Neville D’Almeida to create a series of nine ‘supra–sensorial’ environments which they altogether titled Bloco-Experienciâs in COSMOCOCA – programa in progress (Block-Experiments in COSMOCOCA – program in progress). Numbered CC1 to CC9, the Cosmococas were plans for complex installations that incorporated concurrent slide projections, soundtracks, mattresses, balloons and other various materials, as well as sets of instructions for participants to create future public and private performances. Throughout the series the projected slides feature album covers, newspaper clippings and photographs of celebrities including Yoko Ono, John Cage, Marilyn Monroe, Luis Buñuel, and Jimi Hendrix among others. Images of the pop culture icons are stratified under white pigment drawings the artists made using cocaine as a raw material, illustrating the concept of constructing sensory experiences as well as the possibility of changing one’s perception of time.

The installations are traced through a direct dialogue with Oiticica’s “quasi-cinemas”, which intertwined Oiticica’s Super 8 films with meticulously selected soundtracks encompassing a diverse range, from Brazilian samba to avant-garde compositions. These audiovisual compositions are projected onto various surfaces, metamorphosing the exhibition space into a dynamic and fluid tapestry of color, movement, and sound. Reconfiguring the relationship between art and the public, the Cosmococas intend to transcend the limitations of conventional cinema, offering a multisensory encounter that engages not only the visual and auditory faculties but also the physical, mental, and emotional dimensions of the participants.

On view in the gallery presentation are CC3: Maileryn and CC5: Hendrix-War, both of which integrate everyday objects such as hammocks, sand and mirrors to necessitate physical engagement. The Cosmococas represent an integral aspect of Oiticica's broader artistic pursuits during his time in New York, revolving around the concept of 'creleisure,' a term created by the artist in 1969. It signified Oiticica's idea of merging art and life, aiming to reclaim the exploitation of leisure time under capitalist systems. The environments serve as a testament to Oiticica's radical approach and his commitment to blurring the boundaries between artistic expression and everyday experiences. CC3, positioned in the front half of the gallery, features projections of Marilyn Monroe and over 1,000 balloons. The title combines the names of Monroe and her biographer, Norman Mailer, who concluded Monroe was assassinated by American secret service agents. CC5 references the third compilation album by Jimi Hendrix, “War Heroes” (1972). In addition to projections of the album cover and sound elements the room features a number of hammocks available for use by participants.

This fall, a number of other art institutions, such as the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz, NY, USA; the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, UK; The Mistake Room, Los Angeles, CA, USA; and Hunter College Art Galleries, New York, NY, USA will join the 50th anniversary initiative by presenting works from this series. More information can be found on their websites.

Installation views

Hélio Oiticica & Neville D’Almeida: Cosmococas artwork

More information

Location

508 West 24th Street
New York

Opening Times:
Tuesday – Saturday: 10:00am – 6:00pm

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