Ernesto Neto
May 14 – June 14, 2009*
Acclaimed contemporary artist Ernesto Neto’s largest and most complex installation to date, anthropodino, will overtake Park Avenue Armory’s vast drill hall with an epic work to be touched and sensed by the viewer.
On consecutive Saturdays, NYC’s most sought-after teaching artists will lead elementary school-aged children and their parents in art-making, storytelling, theater and dance through this immersive and extraordinary installation. Workshop participants will choose from an offering of different, two-hour workshops, including opportunities to explore and interact with the installation and to create their own artistic work in response. On Family Arts Day (May 16), kids and parents are also invited to hear from the artist, Ernesto Neto, in a talk from 1 – 2pm.
| Arts Workshops | 11am - 1pm |
| Ernesto Neto Artist Talk | 1pm – 2pm |
| Arts Workshops | 2 - 4pm |
| May 23, May 30, June 6 | 11am - 1pm |
High school students from existing Career Development and Youth Corps programs will be invited for field trips during school & after school to tour the Armory and experience aspects of the installation and the exhibition space itself.
Karen Curlee will guide participants to create choreographed movements, solo, duet, and group pieces, based on words, phrases, spoken poems, and themes drawn from the Ernesto Neto piece. Karen performed on Broadway for 20 years and has been a dance and theater educator with Together in Dance, The Bronx Arts Ensemble, City Center and Young Audiences NY.
Jonathan Gall will lead students to explore the connections between the senses of touch, smell, and sight with the work of Ernesto Neto and other artists who have influenced Neto’s work. Jonathan studied Fine Arts at the Armando Álvares Penteado Foundation in São Paulo and has been a visual arts educator in New York since 2000.
Daniel Levy will guide participants to use their own bodies, as well as action figures, dolls, and Lycra sheets to create environments to inhabit, exploring spaces and shapes in interaction with the Ernesto Neto exhibit. A film composer and multi-instrumentalist, Daniel has composed music for over 40 theatrical productions.
Hawley Hussey will lead students to explore the use of gravity, counter-weight and balance in Ernesto Neto’s piece by creating a hanging sculpture, miniature landscapes, sculptural tents, and an observational treasure hunt map. Hawley is a writer, performer, visual artist and the Director of Education at BRIC Contemporary Art in Brooklyn.
Michael Wiggins, a theater artist and storyteller, will lead participants to interact with and experience Ernesto Neto’s installation by creating a shared narrative that is inspired by our relationship to each other and the artist’s work. Michael is a member of the New Victory Theater Teaching Artist Enrichment Team, specializing in community-oriented approaches to theater and arts education.
*Installation made possible by: Rockefeller Foundation NYC Cultural Innovation Fund, with additional support from Booth Ferris Foundation, G-Star Raw, The Lauder Foundation/Leonard and Evelyn Lauder Fund, and Kenneth Kuchin. Special thanks to the Consulate General of Brazil in New York.
Arts education at the Armory provides an opportunity for students not only to experience unique, immersive arts installations such as Ernesto Neto’s anthropodino, but also to make connections between major works of art and their own creations in visual arts, music, dance, storytelling, and theater; all within the historical surrounds of the Armory. In addition to partnering with NYC schools and community groups, the Armory will also provide ongoing professional development for artists and educators to integrate arts in teaching and learning. For further details, please contact the Armory at artseducation@armoryonpark.org