‘Let’s talk with artist Ernesto Neto’
Published: 29th October 2012 10:04 AM | Last Updated: 29th October 2012 10:04 AM | A+A A-
Get a peek into Brazilian art during interaction with artist Ernesto Neto on Monday. The programme ‘Let’s talk with artist Ernesto Neto’ will be held at Children’s Park auditorium as part of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2012 outreach programme at 6 p.m. A slideshow will be organised by the artist which will be followed by a question- and-answer session.
Ernesto’s works falls somewhere between sculpture and installation. Neto works with installations which often take up the whole exposition space, creating spatial labyrinths in which fine membranes - stretched, taut and fixed at various points - containing materials and spices of varying colours and aromas (saffron, cloves) hang down here and there in the shape of enormous droplets.
The main elements and materials used in his works touch upon elasticity of the fabric and force of gravity. Born in 1964 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he lives and works, Neto is one of the most important figures in contemporary Brazilian art.
He is the heir to the Brazilian art movement known as ‘Neo-Concreto’, which places the spectator at the centre of the creative action, thereby converting physical interaction into a key aspect of his work. The spectator is invited to touch, smell and enter the space created.
The organic forms of his work are related to the observation of the body as a representation of an internal landscape and give an impression of fragility and sensuality. Ernesto studied at Escola de Artes Visuais Parque Lage, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and at Museu de Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
He has exhibited solo in Brazil since 1988 and internationally since 1995. He represented Brazil at the 49th Venice Bienniale in 2001 and has created gigantic, site-specific installations for Pantheon in Paris, the Park Avenue Armory in New York City, the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern and the Hayward Gallery in London.
His work is exhibited in numerous collections notably the Tate Modern Gallery in London, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, the MNAM Centre P o m p i d o u , the Hirshorn M u s e u m o f Washington, the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Guggenheim Museum in New York.