By: Gallery Crawler
Installation view of anthropodino at the Park Avenue Armory.
Image via Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/idletype/3532869263/page2/
anthropodino, Ernesto Neto’s installation at the Park Avenue Armory, which closed on June 14th, was compelling in the truest sense of the word. It is fitting that there was always a traffic jam of strollers at the entrance, because the installation inspired a child-like need to touch, run around and jump all over it. anthropodino, like most of Neto’s recent work, was a giant composition of translucent fabric. At the Armory, the fabric was stretched over a frame of wooden bones, which made the installation resemble the digestive tract of a dinosaur. As you entered the Armory’s great hall, you were confronted with three mouths of fabric tunnels, each leading to a soaring central area. Sacks of spices, sand and beads of varying sizes hung throughout the structure and around its perimeter. A small ball pit and a giant beanbag chair were nestled next to the structure. The combination of the delicious smells of spices and Neto’s visually stunning structure in the vast, dark emptiness of the hall created an atmosphere of fantasy and wonder that elicited awed sighs and giggles of delight from children and adults. I can only imagine the mythical place that anthropodino will occupy in the minds of the littlest visitors.
anthropodino was an absolute treat for the whole family. If you didn’t have a chance to experience it make sure to catch the next Neto installation.
See a slide show of the installation process here: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/05/12/arts/10090512_ NETO_SLIDESHOW_index.html
Best thing that's even been hosted at the Armory!
Posted by: Sarah | June 27, 2009 at 11:44 AM
I am so glad I got to go see this before it closed. I loved the installation and I loved the smell!
Posted by: Sarah B. | June 30, 2009 at 10:01 AM
Thanks for including the slide show of the installation process.
Posted by: lk | July 06, 2009 at 11:57 PM