ERNESTO NETO
b. 1964, BrazilErnesto Neto’s work deals with relationships, whether between materials, forces, or beings. Gravity and balance appear as mediating elements in this relationship, challenging and expanding the vocabulary of sculpture. Considering the legacy of avant-garde movements such as the neo-concrete, minimalism and Arte Povera, he understands the body as a fundamental political issue in his poetics, so that his sculptures evoke living organisms, as well as activate multiple senses in the viewer’s body.
In recent years, Neto has turned to natural materials, such as cotton, wood, and leaves, and invites us to enter meditative states and reconnect the cultural body with the spirituality of being alive. He was born in 1964 in Rio de Janeiro, where he lives and works.
Recent solo exhibitions include Blow (Centro Cultural La Moneda, Santiago, Chile, 2020; Pinacoteca de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, 2019; MALBA – Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2019); GaiaMotherTree (Zürich Hauptbahnhof, Fondation Beyeler, Zurich, Switzerland, 2018), Boa (Kiasma – Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki, Finland, 2016); Rui Ni / Voices of the Forest (Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg, Dinamarca, 2016), Ernesto Neto and the Huni Kuin: Aru Kuxipa | Sacred Secret (TBA21, Vienna, ÁAustria, 2015), The body that carries me (Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain, 2014), Haux Haux (Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck, Remagen, Germany, 2014).
He has also participated in the biennials of Venice (2017, 2001), Lyon (2017), Sharjah (2013), Istanbul (2011) and São Paulo (2010, 1998).
His work is featured in renowned collections such as Centre Pompidou (Paris, France), Inhotim (Brumadinho, Brazil), Guggenheim (New York, USA), MoCA – Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago, USA), MCA – Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles, USA), MoMA – Museum of Modern Art (New York, USA), Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid, Spain), SFMOMA – San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (San Francisco, USA), Tate Modern (London, United Kingdom), TBA21 (Vienna, Austria), among others.
Text courtesy Museum of Art and Technology, Lisbon
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