Ernesto Neto
Encyclopedia
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
1964– ) is a contemporary visual artist.
Ernesto Neto began exhibiting in Brazil in 1988 and has had solo exhibitions abroad since 1995. He represented with Vik Muniz
Vik Muniz
Vicente José de Oliveira Muniz, known as Vik Muniz , is a visual artist living in New York City.-Early career:Muniz began his career as a sculptor in the late 1980s after relocating from Brazil to Chicago and later to New York. His early work grew out of a post-Fluxus aesthetic and often involved...
their country in 2001 Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
, his installations were featured in Brazil's national pavilion and in the international group exhibition at the Arsenale.
Neto's work has been described as "beyond abstract minimalism". His installations are large, soft, biomorphic sculptures that fill an exhibition space that viewers can touch, poke, and even sometimes walk on or through. These are made of white, stretchy, stockinglike material -- amorphous forms stuffed with Styrofoam pellets or, on occasion, aromatic spices. In some installations, he has also used this material to create translucent scrims that transform the space's walls and floor. His sculptures can be regarded as expression of traditional abstract form, but in their interaction with the viewer, they work on another level as well.
- 1994, 1997 Escola de Artes Visuais Parque Lage, Rio de Janeiro
- 1994-96 Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro
One of his most acclaimed installation is at the Panthéon
Pantheon
-Mythology:* Pantheon , the set of gods belonging to a particular mythology* Pantheon * Pantheon, Rome, now a Catholic church, once a temple to the gods of ancient Rome* Any temple dedicated to an entire pantheon-Other buildings:...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
called Léviathan Thot
Léviathan Thot
Léviathan Thot is an Ernesto Neto's installation in 'le Panthéon', Paris.The exhibition lasted from 15 September to 31 December 2006 as part of the 'Festival D'Automne à Paris'....
.
In 2009 Neto exhibited a new work at New York's Park Avenue Armory called anthropodino. Filling the 55000 square feet (5,109.7 m²) hall, the aim is to help the Armory reposition itself as a big-art destination like the Turbine Hall in London's Tate Modern
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group . It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year...
.
In 2010 he exhibited a popular display at London's Hayward Gallery
Hayward Gallery
The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre, part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames, in central London, England. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings and also the Royal National Theatre and British Film Institute...
called 'Edges of the World'.
Neto has been awarded chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
.