Hélio Oiticica

Oiticica often created new words to describe his work. ‘Bilateral’ was a term he invented for his works which move away from traditional, two-dimensional painting. These works were painted on both sides and suspended from the ceiling. They encourage active engagement as you have to walk around them to see both sides. The Bilaterals, such as this one called ‘Teman’, explore close-colour contrasts. Here Oiticica looks at the properties of white. He identified white as the ‘ideal light-colour, the synthesis-light of all colours’.