Fine Art
Ernesto Neto’s HUGE installations
Neto in front of one of his installations. Courtesy of Panorama, Neto “compared himself to a peddler. He is a nomad traveling with a suitcase full of wares that he can spread out on the floor anywhere, anyway, and any time he pleases.”
Image courtesy of: Panorama
Ernesto Neto is a master at creating installations and sculptures that are made out of nets and stocking-like material. Inside these forms, the Brazilian contemporary visual artist fills the empty spaces with a number of different objects that range from wooden replicas of dinosaur bones to seashells.
The artist is quite well represented throughout the world; his work is displayed at some of the world’s most important museums such as MOMA and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, London’s Tate Gallery, and Centre Pompidou in Paris. In addition, Neto has been the subject of several exhibitions and some solo retrospectives across the globe.
“GaiaMotherTree” was installed at the Zurich Central Train Station
Image courtesy of: DesignBoom, photographed by: Mark Niedermann
The Brazilian artist grew up in London; he lived in the city at a time when Brutalist aesthetic dominated British architecture. When Neto was a child in the sixties, exposed concrete material and minimalistic styling dominated construction. Unadorned was at the forefront of architecture; as Frank Stella said, “What you see is what you see.”
Quite the contrary, Neto wanted to create pieces that were the polar opposite of Brutalism. The artist started to develop soft sculptural installations using translucent nylon “tubes,” filling them up with various material. The end result were biomorphic environments that allowed visitors to enter and explore.
From The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao’s exhibition, “The Body that Carries Me.”
Image courtesy of: The Market News
Neto hopes that his installations engage the senses; “producing a new type of perception that renegotiates boundaries between artwork and viewer.” It is important for Neto to engage his audiences’ five senses. The multi-sensory experience that he provides starts with biomorphic shapes that are visible from far away. As people enter the canals of stretched yarn and nylon, the constant movement within evokes a different type of feeling… all the while, the scent of spices such as turmeric and cumin are diffused throughout the room.
The best part is that different people encounter different experiences as they are surrounded by art that they can touch. Those tactile moments bring on individual memories and personal reactions. Adding to those elements is the opportunity to walk inside the artwork and become a part of the installation itself… further adding to the conversation between the artist and the audience.
The colors: yellow, orange, and green, imitate life rising out of the sea through the sun’s energy. Viewed from outside, the areas near the entrance and exit are the most green (symbolizing chlorophyll- the beginning of a planet’s life). These green areas at the entrance and exit are the farthest from the sun’s bright red-orange core.
Image courtesy of: This Is Colossal
Neto’s most recent installation garnered a lot of attention. SunForceOceanLife debuted last summer at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The hand-crocheted walkable maze in colors of yellow, orange, and green threads stretches 79 feet long and spirals 12 feet high.
Suspended from the ceiling, the installation features a number of patterns that guide visitors as they work their way though the crocheted sections, each filled with plastic balls. The balls have an additional purpose as they test inner balance and stability… adding to the multi-sensory experience.
The installation was initially part of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Summer Immersive Series. Following the exhibition, “SunForceOceanLife” will join the museum’s permanent collection.
Image courtesy of: This Is Colossal
Courtesy of DesignBoom, the artist describes his awe-inspiring work, “‘SunForceOceanLife’ is a hand-crocheted, walkable maze of yellow, orange, and green threads that stretch 79 feet across the gallery and spiral 12 feet in the air. The pliable installation centers around “fire, the vital energy that enables life on this planet. I hope that the experience of this work will feel like a chant made in gratitude to the gigantic ball of fire we call the sun, a gesture of thanks for the energy, truth, and power that it shares with us as it touches our land, our oceans, and our life.” He continued, “‘SunForceOceanLife also unites the disciplines of art and culture with biology and cosmology; it directly engages the body as does a joyful dance or meditation, inviting us to relax, breathe, and uncouple our body from our conscious mind. The sensation of floating, the body cradled by the crocheted fruits of our labor, brings to mind a hammock: the quintessential indigenous invention that uplifts us and connects us to the wisdom and traditions of our ancestors.”
