Tapumes

I wandered this morning over to the Rice Gallery on the Rice campus (the only university museum in the country dedicated to installation art), to see the current exhibit. This is a little of what I saw while wandering there.

Looking through the windows before entering the art gallery, you can see the massive piece, Tapumes by Henrique Oliveira, spread across the entire back wall, overlapping onto the sides, clinging to the ceiling and spreading out onto the floor.

It is wonderful!

(Question: Is my new lens (which replaces my old one, damaged months ago) up to the challenge of photographing this work? I hope so.)

The dimension of this piece is as amazing as the actual size. The shot above zooms in on the dangling piece in the first photo.

The work bends and curves so gracefully -- yet it is made of wood salvaged from construction sites throughout the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, which is home to the artist, Henrique Oliveira.

This is a lovely blue onion, one of a pair and easily stands 4 to 5 feet tall.

Do you see the face profile here? The nose leads the way ...
(It also reminds me of the racing profiles of the Tour de France cyclists).

I would love to crawl through this tunnel -- but this is art, not a playground, so I refrain from letting my inner child run free.
Wouldn't it be fun to try?

Another view capturing a small slice of the full piece (1/6 - 1/8 of the whole), including a second peak at my tunnel.

The gallery has included three short videos for viewing: one of Henrique working on other art pieces (in Portuguese, his native tongue), an interview with him about this Tapumes installation at Rice University, which I've included below (courtesy of YouTube and Rice University Art Gallery),




and a slideshow/video of the installation of the piece in the RIce Gallery, which is below (a second thank you to YouTube and RiceU Art Gallery).

To read two reviews of the Rice Gallery's exhibit Tapumes, click here or here.

Here he is -- the imaginative artist Henrique Oliveira who is the ultimate salvage/recycle/reclaim artist, creating colorful pieces (like the one I've shared here) built entirely from wood collected from the streets and construction sites in Sao Paulo.

He calls these installations "tridimensionals" as they incorporate painting, architecture and sculpture. He also participated in the invitational Something from Nothing show held in New Orleans last year. I look forward to seeing what this young man creates next...

If you live in or near Houston, be sure to stop by the Rice Gallery on Rice University campus, as his installation Tapumes has been extended through August 17, 2009. Note: there is ongoing construction in this building so the actual exhibit may or may not be open for visitors. I popped in today and was lucky to find it open. Tapumes is not as easily visible from outside the building as the website suggests.