Sílvio Oppenheim (São Paulo SP, July 18, 1941 - idem, April 3, 2012)
Silvio Oppenheim was a Brazilian architect, set designer, draftsman, printmaker and painter. He was born in São Paulo in 1941, the son of Annelise and Franz Oppenheim, German Jewish immigrants who arrived in Brazil in 1934. He studied at the São Paulo Graded School, where he learned to read and write in English, and began music studies with private teachers. He lived with his parents in Vila Mariana, in a cultural environment of European influence.
Between 1951 and 1959, he studied at the Colégio Dante Alighieri. Encouraged by his drawing teacher Germana de Angelis, he began attending the studio of the painter Vicente Mecozzi in the Aclimação neighborhood, where he learned and practiced his first drawing and painting techniques. While still at school, he produced precocious works, including a large panel for the kindergarten, and was rewarded with scholarships in recognition of the prizes his talent earned him.
In 1959, he moved with his family to an apartment in Jardim Paulista and entered the Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de São Paulo (FAU-USP), then located on Rua Maranhão in Higienópolis. The school's cultural environment contributed to his creative development. With the encouragement of teachers and colleagues such as Flávio Motta, Renina Katz and Julio Katinsky, he developed new drawing and painting techniques.
In 1961, he devoted himself to learning woodcut, attending the studio of the artist Savério Castellano. He also took drawing and intaglio courses at the Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado (FAAP), taught by well-known visual artists. He held his first exhibition of drawings at the Instituto dos Arquitetos do Brasil (IAB-SP), receiving praise from Lourival Gomes Machado, then director of FAU-USP. At the school, he set up a painting studio and began producing graphic work, illustrations and set designs.
In 1963, he traveled to Europe for the first time. He graduated as an architect in 1965 and began an internship at the Croce-Aflalo e Gasperini firm. Soon afterwards, he was recommended to work with the architect Jacob M. Ruchti, who strongly influenced his career and encouraged him to pursue new artistic directions. Through this partnership, he developed panels, paintings and collages for a variety of spaces.
Between 1968 and 1969, he received a scholarship from the German government (DAAD) to study at the Technische Universität (TU) in West Berlin, where he was in contact with local architects and visual artists, deepening his professional and artistic maturity.
In 1970, he returned to Brazil and began his professional activities. He opened his own architecture office and studio in São Paulo. He partnered with the architect and art dealer César Luiz Pires de Mello, with whom he developed several projects. He took part in the activities of Galeria Cosme Velho and, with César Luiz's support, joined the gallery's roster, showing his work in solo and group exhibitions.
Between 1975 and 1979, he held the chair of Interior Architecture at the Faculdade de Arquitetura of the Universidade Mackenzie. In 1979, he also began working as a printmaker, producing silkscreens and lithographs.
Between 1970 and 1988, he regularly took part in exhibitions at galleries in Brazil and abroad. He designed residences, offices and shops, and built his own house in Guarujá, São Paulo.
Between 1988 and 2002, he moved to Rua Bastos Pereira, where he kept his new office and studio, working intensely as an architect and visual artist. In 2004, a book on his work was published by Banco Santos.
Chronology
1962 - Instituto dos Arquitetos do Brasil, São Paulo
1964 - Galeria São Luiz, São Paulo 1965 - Galeria Mobilínea, São Paulo - Museu de Arte do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre 8th Bienal, São Paulo
- PROPOSTA 65, Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado, São Paulo 1967 - 9th Bienal - São Paulo
1969 - Instituto dos Arquitetos do Brasil, São Paulo
1970 - Galeria Cosme Velho, São Paulo
1971 - Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo
1972 - Galeria Astréia, São Paulo
1973 - Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo - Galeria da Eucatexpo - São Paulo - Instituto dos Arquitetos do Brasil - Brasília
1974 - Galeria Oscar Seraphico, Brasília
1975 - Galeria Cosme Velho - São Paulo
1976 - Galeria Arte Aplicada, São Paulo; Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo
1977 - Galeria Portal - São Paulo - Galeria Oscar Seraphico, Brasília
1978 - Galeria Oscar Seraphico, Brasília
1979 - Asa Gallery, Tennessee/USA
1980 - Galeria Abreu, New York/USA
1981 - Museu de Arte Contemporânea, Campinas - Galeria Paulo Figueiredo - São Paulo
1982 - Galeria Cristina Faria de Paula, São Paulo
1983 - Galeria Arte Aplicada, São Paulo
1984 - Galeria Mônica Filgueiras, São Paulo
1985 - Embassy of Brazil, Tokyo/Japan - Galeria GB Arte, Rio de Janeiro - Galeria Documenta, São Paulo
1987 - 10-Year Retrospective, Galeria Intersul, São Paulo - Sé subway station, São Paulo - Galeria Documenta, Curitiba
1988 - Graphic Art Retrospective, Centro Cultural, São Paulo
1989 - Itaú Galeria, Vitória - Itaú Galeria, São Paulo - Itaú Galeria, Goiânia - Escritório de Arte Fraletti e Rubbo, São Paulo - Galeria Mônica Filgueiras, São Paulo
1990 - Galeria Croquis, Campinas - Galeria Art Impressions, Miami/USA - Santa Cecília subway station, São Paulo
1991 - Artista Arquitetos [Artist Architects], Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo
1992 - Loja Forma, São Paulo
1994 - Galeria Mônica Filgueiras, São Paulo
1998 - Shopping D&D, São Paulo
1999 - Mostra Rio Gravuras Hoje [Rio Show: Prints Today], Rio de Janeiro
2002 - Espaço Giroflex, São Paulo
Source: Itaú Cultural
