Ernesto Neto
Slow iis goood
For his exhibition Slow iis goood, Ernesto Neto presents a series of vibrantly colored installations of crocheted polypropylene and polyester cord that hang from the ceiling, hovering several feet above the ground. These new works continue Neto’s practice of using gravity, weight, and tension to dictate form as plastic balls in different shades provide a counterweight for the crocheted sheets. Stretching the crocheted membranes taught, the balls form a floor for the labyrinthine, tunnel-like structures of alluring color and inviting texture that the gallery visitor is meant to enter and explore.
Although these are spaces meant for relaxation, they are created through a meticulous, laborintensive process. Each element is hand crocheted from multicolored strings that the artist combines from a wide-ranging spectrum of threads. The intense, subtle, and sophisticated juxtapositions of color that Neto chooses are then woven together into a single strand, and knotted into circular units that combine to become the walls of the sculptures. The irregular circles of crochet that compose the nets simultaneously resemble cells seen through a microscope, and a network of constellations unfurled across the sky. Here, the inside and the outside universe are represented in the same form, demonstrating the interconnectivity of life.
Not only do the works resemble and reference natural, organic matter, they also incorporate it: the installation in the main space upstairs includes, stones, plants, and spices. These natural materials serve as a kind of landscape for the main structure of the installation, which itself resembles an amoeba-like animal floating in space. The fusion of figure and ground, or animal and landscape, is a central part of Neto’s practice. Just as his work blurs the boundary between artwork and viewer, inviting the visitor to inhabit and experience it on a visceral, primal level, it also draws no distinction between types of life—we are all a part of the natural world.
Neto’s opening at the gallery will be followed by a solo presentation at the Nasher Scultpure Center in Dallas, opening May 11 and on view through September 9. Recent major exhibitions for the artist include La lengua de Ernesto: retrospectiva 1987-2011, at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, MARCO, Mexico, traveling to Antiguo Colegio de San Idelfonso, Mexico City, Mexico, 2011-2012 (solo); Ernesto Neto: O Bicho SusPensa na PaisaGen, Los Molinos Exhibition Hall, Faena Art District, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2011 (solo); Ernesto Neto: The Edges of the World, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, London, UK, 2010 (solo); Ernesto Neto: Intimacy, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway, 2010 (solo); Dengo, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Brazil, 2010 (solo); and anthropodino, Park Avenue Armory, New York, NY, 2009 (solo) among others.
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