Remembering Helio Oiticica´s Work

More than 90% of Oiticica´s work has been lost this last Saturday Oct. 17th. At Literal we published a magnificent article about his exhibition The Body of Color.

"Hélio Oiticica’s current exhibit The Body of Color at the Museum
of Fine Arts Houston may tempt the viewer to agree with
writers who have called his art “ordered delirium.” 1 On the
one hand there is forethought and calculation; on the other,
spontaneity and a crescendo of forms and colors (pink, yellow,
orange, red, etc.) incarnated in a variety of objects. Many of
these objects escape known art genres and fall into new categories
invented by Oiticica in the sixties. In the midst of this
genre confusion the run-of-the-mill viewer may find it a little
harder to fathom order. Oiticica’s order mirrors Rio de Janeiro’s
popular culture and the organization within the seemingly
chaotic constructions of the favelas.
The Body of Color echoes Oiticica’s 1965 exhibit Opinao 65
at the Museu de Arte Moderna (Rio de Janeiro) to which he
invited dancers from the Mangueira samba school to participate.
2 Writer Anna Dezeuze notes, “The irruption of the poor
into the bourgeois atmosphere of the museum caused such a
scandal that the director had them evicted. As censorship
worsened in Brazil during the later 1960s, Oiticica’s association
with Mangueira would increasingly be linked to a political
resistance to the dictatorship that had taken over the country
in 1964.”3" To read more click here

Image: Glass Bólide 05: “Homenagem a Mondrian”, 1965.
Oil with polyvinyl acetate emulsion on nylon mesh and burlap; glass; paint and pigment suspended in water.
César and Claudio Oiticica Collection, Rio de Janeiro.

Events From The Past Years/ Eventos de años pasados

Houston , TX- May 2006. Literal Latin American Voices, the Department of Modern & Classical Languages of the University of St. Thomas and the Mexican Consulate in Houston had the honor to present the writers Alberto Ruy Sánchez and Eduardo González Viaña. In his presentation, Ruy Sánchez shared with the audience his artistic motivations about the exploration of desire and poetic wonder. In one of his more recent volumes, Nine Times the Wonder (Alfaguara, 2005), Ruy Sánchez left the public astonished with Mogador. Also, González Viaña captured the reverberation of immigrant voices in the United States that have a name and a story to tell the world in his book of stories American Dreams (Arte Público Press, 2005).

An interview with Alberto Ruy Sánchez is available in issue 5 of Literal Latin American Voices.

An interview with Eduardo Gonzalez Viaña is available in issue 4 of Literal Latin American Voices.

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Houston Tx.- Mayo 2006. Literal Latin American Voices, el Departamento de Lenguas Modernas y Clásicas de la Universidad de St. Thomas y el Consulado de México en Houston, tuvieron el honor de presentar a los escritores Alberto Ruy Sánchez y Eduardo González Viaña. En su intervención, Ruy Sánchez compartió con el auditorio sus motivaciones artísticas en torno a la exploración del deseo y al asombro poético. En uno más de sus volúmenes , Nueve veces el asombro , Ed. Alfaguara, deslumbró a los presentes, quienes fueron llevados de la mano por Mogador. Asimismo, González Viaña, a través de su libro de relatos American Dreams , Ed. Arte Público Press, hizo eco de las voces inmigrantes en Estados Unidos que tienen un nombre y una historia que contar al mundo.

Una entrevista con Alberto Ruy Sánchez está disponible en el volumen 5 de Latin American Voices.

Houston , TX- May 2007. Literal Latin American Voices, Poets & Writers, the Houston Institute for Culture and the Department of Modern & Classical Languages of the University of St. Thomas presented the collection of poems Time of Water (Literal Publishing, 2007) by Mexican poet Wendolyn Lozano-Tovar. During this presentation, a reading of Lozano´s poems was carried out as well as the short story Plaza de las alegrías narrated by Rose Mary Salum, founder and director of Literal.

The short story Plaza de las alegrías is available in issue 4 of Literal Latin American Voices.

Houston Tx- Mayo 2007. Literal Latin American Voices, Poets & Writers, el Instituto de Cultura de Houston y el Departamento de Lenguas Modernas y Clásicas de la Universidad de St. Thomas, presentaron el poemario Tiempo de agua, Ed. Literal Publishing de la poeta mexicana Wendolyn Lozano Tovar. Durante la presentación se llevó a cabo una lectura de la poesía de Lozano así como del cuento Plaza de las alegrías narrado por Rose Mary Salum, fundadora y directora de Literal.

El cuento Plaza de las alegrías está disponible en el volumen 4 de Literal Latin American Voices.

Houston , TX- April 2007. Literal Latin American Voices, the University of Houston, Rice University and the Mexican Consulate in Houston presented Carlos Monsiváis, who gave the conference I Left Comala Because I Was Told My Father Lived in Houston.

The piece read during the conference is available in issue 9 of Literal Latin American Voices.

Houston Tx- Abril 2007. Literal Latin American Voices, la Universidad de Houston, la Universidad de Rice y el Consulado de México en Houston, presentaron a Carlos Monsiváis, quien dictó la conferencia Me fui de Comalá porque me dijeron que mi padre vivía en Houston.

La conferencia está disponible en el volumen 9 de Literal Latin American Voices.