Goodwood Art Foundation Unveils First Outdoor Hélio Oiticica Installation in Europe
The Facts
Goodwood Art Foundation has unveiled the first outdoor installation in Europe by Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica (1937-1980), a maze-like structure titled Magic Square #3 (1978/2026). The open-air architectural labyrinth, made from brightly coloured painted walls, occupies a 15 x 15 x 5-metre footprint on the edge of the Foundation’s woodland with views towards the Sussex coast. Designed to be walked through and explored, the work embodies Oiticica’s participatory vision, with planes of colour shifting under natural light. The installation is on long-term loan to Goodwood Art Foundation and was constructed according to the late artist’s instructions.
The Signal
The realization of Magic Square #3 at Goodwood marks a significant institutional commitment to presenting Oiticica’s immersive works outdoors in Europe, a context the artist never saw realized before his death at age 42. For collectors and curators, this installation underscores the growing institutional appetite for posthumously fabricating large-scale works from artists’ instructions, particularly those from the 1960s-70s whose radical spatial experiments were often unrealized in their lifetimes. Oiticica’s Tropicália (1966-1967) defined the Tropicalismo movement, and this installation extends his legacy into the British landscape, offering a rare opportunity to experience his color-based environmental art outside Brazil.
- Artists: Hélio Oiticica
- People: Richard Grindy
- Galleries: Lisson Gallery
- Museums: Goodwood Art Foundation
- Locations: West Sussex
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