In the form of paintings, sculptures or installations, the hybrid art of Henrique Oliveira evokes both the urban and the natural, the organic and the structural, as well as art and science, through compositions in which the unexpected generates a universe tinted with the fantastic. The artist explores fluidity, the combination and color of materials, which endows his installations with a certain pictorial quality. Oliveira often borrows materials from the urban landscape, notably construction hoarding, wood taken from fences surrounding and blocking access to construction sites. By using these materials, Oliveira’s installations highlight the endemic and parasitic nature of precarious housing constructions functioning as a metaphor for organic growth, thus revealing the dynamic decay present in cosmopolitan cities in the urban fabric around the world. 

Oliveira held solo shows at Millan, São Paulo, Brazil (2023 and 2016); Kupfer, London, UK (2022); Gifu Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, Japan (2018); Van de Weghe Gallery, New York, USA (2017); Museu de Arte Contemporânea da USP – MAC USP, Brazil (2014); Arthur Ross Gallery, Philadelphia, USA (2014); Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (2013); Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, USA (2011), among others.

The artist has participated in the 14^th Taipei Biennial, Taiwan (2025); Abu Dhabi Biennial, UAE (2024); and the Lagos Biennial, Nigeria (2024). Among his notable group shows are Complexo Brasil, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal (2025); Énormément Bizarre, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (2025); Lines, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan (2024); Amazing Nature, KunstCentret Silkeborg Bad, Silkeborg, Denmark (2023); Fairy Tales, Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia (2023); La Forêt Magique, Palais Lille Beaux Arts, Lille, France (2022); Triennale Brugge 2021, Belgium (2021); Pinacoteca: Acervo, Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Brazil (2020); Arte Sella, Borgo Valsugana, Italy (2019); Un Été au Havre – Jardins Suspendu, Le Havre, France (2019); The End of the World, Centro Pecci, Prato, Italy (2017); The Other Side – Narratives of the Unconscious, Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany (2017); XIII Bienal de Cuenca, Ecuador (2016); Crafted: Object in Flux, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA (2015); Inside Out and from the Ground Up, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, USA (2012); 29th Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil (2010); and Grito e Escuta, 7th Mercosul Biennial, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2009). 

Henrique Oliveira won the third edition of the CNI SESI Marcantonio Vilaça Award, Brazil, in 2009. His work is featured in the collections of the Centre Pompidou, France; Centro Luigi Pecci per L’Arte Contemporanea, Italy; Fundação Edson Queiroz, Brazil; Museu Afro Brasil Emanoel Araujo, Brazil; MAC USP, Brazil; Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, Australia; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, USA; Voorlinden Museum, The Netherlands.