Events

Ernesto Neto’s hand play mind, 2013, appears as both unstable and sturdy, weightless and heavy. A sizeable modulated sculpture, the work consists of organic shapes cut in corten steel which interlock in a seemingly precarious balance, defying gravity. The constituent elements look reconfigurable and resemble simplified flowers.

A sense of movement pervades the assemblage, which, as a whole, evokes a larger-than-life children’s toy. Neto’s use of steel dates back to the 1980s, and contrasts with his trademark use of soft fabric for his often interactive sculptures and environments. As corten oxidises over time, enhancing its raw tactility, the material indicates Neto’s sensuous approach to his work. hand play mind highlights the influence of figures from the Brazilian Neoconcretismo (Neo-Concrete) movement, such as Franz Weissmann, Lygia Clark or Amilcar de Castro, who sought to infuse non-figurative sculpture with sensitivity, accounting for the ‘living and indeterminate experience of man’, in the words of art critic Monica Amor.