Meireles is a master of riddles that at once startle and empower. In this emblematic work, the glass placed between the metal grids reminds us that freedom is a precarious state: it combines both strength and fragility. Meireles’s relentless, uncompromising approach influenced an entire generation of Brazilian artists to explore the ways in which Conceptual art could function at the level of political discourse.

Yasmil Raymond, Associate Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture