Ernesto Neto: Slow iis goood at Chelsea's Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

Ernesto Neto: Slow iis goood at Chelsea’s Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

May 7, 2012

There's art that you stand and admire (or not, as the case may be) from a distance… and then there's the stuff Ernesto Neto does. The Brazilian sculptural-installation-ist Ernesto Neto has become something of an art star in this town these past few years, especially after his sensual crowd-pleaser Anthropodino–the New York Times called the womb-like, aromatic work a "Great Spicy, Gauzy Mother"–filled the vast Park Avenue Armory in 2009. Now Ernesto Neto's enveloping magic is back, albeit on a much smaller scale, with a very fun, extremably climbable series of works at Chelsea's Tanya Bonakdar Gallery called, for some reason, Slow iiss goood.

Slow iis goood at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

We went to Ernesto Neto's Chelsea exhibition last Saturday, and had a blast clambering and falling and laughing through his dangling "tunnels" installed on Tanya Bonakdar's first and second floors. It's not like we're total spazzes, either. It's just that the Neto's two big pieces here, The Island Bird and The Sun Lits Life, Let the Son, have pathways made of hundreds of fairly loosely packed plastic balls, so you're constantly sinking and stumbling, grabbing on to the stretchy, crocheted walls for purchase, but finding little help there. Smiles and giggles all around. These are great.

Ernesto Neto: Slow iis goood at Tanya Bonakdar also features two hammock-like pieces–named, appropriately enough, Blue Hammock and Green Hammock–made from the same crochet/plastic balls combination of materials. Soundway, through which you walk at the gallery's entrance, is a clever piece as well: on one side dangles seashells; on the other, bells. There are also several wall sculptures, including the insect-y Grub and Grub Measure. And as if all of this isn't playfully engaging enough, The Sun Lits Life, Let the Son has these hanging pots filled with various spices, just so you (and, if you have them, your children… this is, needless to say, and extremely kid-friendly art show), can play "identify the aroma."