Henrique Oliveira - Pau-Caroço (2022)

Anyone not paying sufficient attention might just miss this work, a sculpture by Henrique Oliveira (b. 1973, lives and works in São Paulo and London) as it dangles high from a branch, almost blending in with its surroundings. Oliveira is known for works including his installations, in which painting, architecture and sculpture come together. One well-known example is the installation Baitogogo at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, which consists of geometric white pillars and beams throughout the exhibition space, which give way to a tangle of branches at the centre of the room. Many of his diverse works, some of which he categorises as ‘immersives’ or ‘swellings’, are covered with a veneer of plywood pieces, preferably found on the streets of São Paulo, a typical feature of Oliveira’s work. It is impossible to deduce by looking at these works that often just a structure of PVC pipes lies within: the overlapping, curving wood so skilfully forms a whole, sometimes almost as if painted, seeming to possess a tremendous mass and propulsive force that makes walls give way, with organic shapes that are at times reminiscent of meandering roots or bulging intestines.

This subdued work with its duo of lobed forms might also be reminiscent of a hybrid body part, originating in a shadowland between the animal and plant kingdoms. Or does the stem make it more reminiscent of swelling fruits that have yet to come to fruition? The rounded forms enter into an intriguing tension with the weathered surface. Has something been nipped in the bud here and hung out to dry – and if so, what? Or is Oliveira using this work to challenge our experience of time? Are they fruits that are still, very slowly, swelling at the imperceptible pace of a tree?

Oliveira explains the title as follows: “The title is from a series of works that simulates new species of trees. In Portuguese the word "pau" means stick but also means tree when it comes followed by another word. The word "caroço" means pit. Pau-caroço would be a type of tree that has a bulbous formation.”