Henrique Oliveira (b. 1973, São Paulo, BR) began his artistic career as a painter, but today he is mainly known for his monumental in-situ installations. His wall-hung or free-standing sculptures and environments are always made of waste materials, including metal, foam and plywood, recovered from Brazilian construction sites. Henrique Oliveira assembles the various elements, each with their own colours and shapes, into idiosyncratic sculptures that turn into large branches, roots or tree trunks. The artist skilfully integrates these structures into the architectural context, rendering the line between the sculpture and its surroundings so fine that it is nigh imperceptible. The whole structure adds a new and strange dimension. The carefully constructed hybrid forms refer both to nature and to the environmental pollution caused by various social activities. Henrique Oliveira has already received several international awards for his work, such as the Prix Pierre Cardin and the Associação Paulista de Críticos de Arte prize.
