ERNESTO NETO

Neto perceives sculpture as a living and transgressive organism, constantly devouring and transforming itself and those around. The environment created by the artist in this show suggests a (re)construction of social space and the natural world, crossing the limits of the sculptural body in a reinvented landscape. A crochet sky supports sculptures composed of long, suspended shapes, like drops that are filled with herb leaves or nuts, falling towards ceramic pieces that in turn ‘spring’ from the ground, alluding to kisses between different bodies. Here, the artist proposes a metaphor of a loving encounter between heaven and earth.

In the new body of work ‘entidade tecelã’ [‘weaving entity’], the artist uses MDF frames in biomorphic cutouts and coloured cotton knit threads to manually create wefts, with a weaving technique that operates between the microtension of the intertwined threads and empty spaces for breathing. Other works made out of dry branches wrapped in string, explore the relationship of tension and balance between different everyday materials and natural forms.

This is the first exhibition of new works by the artist after Sopro, at the Pinacoteca, in São Paulo. Currently, he is also presenting solo exhibitions at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and at GAMeC, in Bergamo.

Ernesto Neto was born in Rio de Janeiro, in 1964, where he lives and works. Other recent exhibitions include: Menre la vita ci respira, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo (Bergamo, 2021), SunForceOceanLife, The Museum of Fine Arts (Houston, 2021); Sopro, Centro Cultural La Moneda (Santiago, 2021), MALBA (Buenos Aires, 2019), Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, (São Paulo, 2019); GaiaMotherTree, Zurich Main Station, presented by the Fondation Beyeler (Zurich, 2018); The Body that Carries Me, Guggenheim Bilbao (Bilbao, 2014). His work is included in the collections of the Center Georges Pompidou (Paris), Guggenheim (New York), MoMA (New York), Museo Reina Sofia (Madrid), Tate (London), among others.