Sheila Hicks on Fibre, Brazil and a 38-Metre Tower for Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
At 92 years old, US artist Sheila Hicks is showcasing her work in two exhibitions in São Paulo. Her first museum exhibition in Brazil, titled O que que é isso?, is being held at Instituto Tomie Ohtake until 25 October, while Autobiografia de um fio is on display at Nara Roesler until 24 October. The title of her exhibition alludes to a question posed by her Yale instructor, Josef Albers, during the late 1950s. Utilizing local Brazilian sisal and plant fibers, Hicks is also constructing a 38-meter-tall tower for Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. Since 1964, she has made Paris her home and taught Albers's design course in Chile in 1957. Pre-Columbian Andean textiles complement her work at Instituto Tomie Ohtake.
Key facts
- O que que é isso? (What Is This?) runs at Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, through 25 October
- Autobiografia de um fio (Autobiography of a Thread) runs at Nara Roesler, São Paulo, through 24 October
- Hicks, born in the US, is 92 and has worked with textiles and colour for over 70 years
- The title O que que é isso? derives from a question Josef Albers asked Hicks at Yale in the late 1950s
- A 38-metre-tall tower is underway for the entrance of Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, using about 17 undyed colours
- Hicks remade her 1967 Ford Foundation tapestries in 2013 after fireproofing chemicals damaged the silk
- She was sent to Chile in 1957 to teach Albers's design course at Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago
- Hicks has lived and worked in the Cour de Rohan in Paris since 1964
Entities
Artists
- Sheila Hicks
- Josef Albers
- Frank Gehry
- Lúcio Costa
- Roberto Burle Marx
- Tomie Ohtake
- Faith Stern
- Michael Brzezinski
- Monsieur Branellec
- Dan Coopey
Institutions
- Instituto Tomie Ohtake
- Nara Roesler
- Yale University
- Universidad Católica de Chile
- Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
- Ford Foundation
- Venice Biennale
- Alison Jacques
- ArtReview
- Bauhaus
- Salvation Army
Locations
- São Paulo
- Brazil
- Minas Gerais
- Chile
- Santiago
- Argentina
- Buenos Aires
- Venezuela
- Brasília
- Mexico
- Guerrero
- Peru
- Turkey
- Paris
- France
- Cour de Rohan
- New York
- Abu Dhabi
- United Arab Emirates
- Venice
- Italy
- Andes
- Altiplano
- Tierra del Fuego
- Brittany
- London
- Nara
- Japan