"Hélio Oiticica was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1937. He was the son of an entomologist who was also a photographer and painter, and the grandson of a philologist and anarchist leader. He was both artist and thinker. Positioning himself audaciously between the avant-garde, Brazilian popular culture, the realities of Third World ‘underdevelopment’ and '60s radicalism, he came to reflect deeply on the issues concerning ‘art’, ‘invention’, and "freedom" in modern conditions. Oiticica was not interested in a conventional artistic career and never had a dealer. Most of his surviving work belongs to a foundation set up by his family and friends after his death in 1980 and can be seen today at the Centro Cultural HO in Rio. Hélio Oiticica thought of all his activities as experimental, ‘proposals’, and as often as not he worked collaboratively, being fastidious to credit every person who worked with him in whatever capacity. He is now recognized as one of the most important artists of the second half of the twentieth century."

Written by Guy Brett, noted London art critic and contributor to the publication" HŽlio Oiticica", Rotterdam and Paris, 1992.