had been working towards … the combination of a single element of substance (the rounded body of the apple) and direction (the plane he had just exposed). It is a synthesis of his thought and experience in a single sculptural sign” It was from cutting this apple that Camargo was able to see how the refractions of light acted differently based on circumstance. This simple act would become the catalyst for his first painted wood reliefs. The wood reliefs, monochromatic in nature allowed for simple and repetitive logic with only subtle alterations. With such slight variations arranged across an otherwise flat plane, there became thousands of compositional possibilities. These wood reliefs communicated a specific message of light and its surroundings. Gaston Bachelard would frame it, light and shadow ‘inhabit’ the work such that it can ‘transcend geometrical space’. Breakthrough and early exhibitions Carmargo received the International Sculpture Prize at the Paris Biennale in 1963. Camargo had continued success in Europe in 1964. His wood reliefs won him his first solo exhibition, at the Signals London gallery. The gallery went on to host some of Camargo's peers, such as Lygia Clark, Mira Schendel, and Hélio Oiticica. These artists and exhibitions shed light generally on the growing Brazilian contemporary art world. In 1965, he found success in South America as well In 1965 Camargo would continue his success and recognition with his first solo museum exhibition at the Museu de Arte Modern do Rio de Janeiro. Additionally, he was named best national sculptor in the São Paulo Bienal. His employment of new materials is largely attributed to this success. With access to Carrara marble, Camargo began creating work of a much grander scale. Finally, Camargo could fully explore his ideas in a fully three-dimensional context. With this exploration of size and material, Camargo also decided to expand his library of geometric shapes to more prismatic elements that would pierce, project, and recede. His strongest examples can be seen in his commissions for the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Bordeaux-Pellegrin, and the Palacio Itamaraty, Brasilia. Also in 1965, he began sculptural pieces for Oscar Niemeyer's Foreign Ministry Building in Brasília.Eventually, by 1967, he contributed a monumental element to the site—a rhythmically structured 25 meter wall. During the late 1960s Sérgio de Camargo showed work at numerous international exhibitions, including the 1965 São Paulo Biennale, the 1966 Venice Biennale, and the 1968 documenta in Kassel.