Ernesto Neto: Gratitude

Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto (born 1964, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) has achieved international acclaim for his large-scale, immersive environments that alter and heighten our perceptions of our surroundings. Often involving stretchy, semitransparent fabric, aromatic spices, and, more recently, crochet, Neto’s installations have an organic, biomorphic character evoking skin and internal bodily systems. Neto challenges the notion of sculpture as static object and investigates the ways that alterations to space and environment transform the relations between people. In engaging with this dialogue, Neto draws on and extends both the abstract modernism of Alexander Calder, Hans Arp, and Constantin Brancusi, and the sensuous, performative practices of such Brazilian predecessors as Lygia Clark and Hélio Oiticica. Spanning both the AAM upper and lower galleries, Neto’s exhibition presents visitors with an opportunity to slow down, pause, and rediscover the essential qualities of sensory experience.