There’s only a few weeks left to literally hang out in the extraordinary tactile sculptures of Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto.  His large scale installations at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in Chelsea are something that simply have to be experienced.

Made by stretching crotched polyester cord, these complex and inviting pieces are there for the viewer to climb right inside.  Suspended in the crotchet are thousands of plastic balls.  You remove your shoes and climb inside the sculpture. The combination of the unexpected shapes and the colors, coupled with the effort it takes to walk on encased plastic balls, makes you instantly smile. The careful calculated steps that you must take to move around the enormous sculpture makes you only capable of focusing on the artwork, thus you somehow totally lose yourself in the moment.

Some pieces on the second floor are more like hammocks, that you lie in, take a load off and literally rest alone suspended in a crotched sculpture.  On the second floor herbs are discretely placed in suspended terracotta pots, making for a multi sensory installation.

In the last two years crochet has become a major part of Neto’s work, translating a craft traditionally made by women on small delicate scale to structures of massive proportions. Like giant paintings that you are invited to climb into and move through, it’s a truly a once in a lifetime experience.

Ernesto Neto has managed to literally lift us off the ground with his art, allowing us to float between the floor and the ceiling and giving a space in which you can slow down, breathe, and rest.  To achieve this in the middle of Manhattan is a wonderful feat and something to be enjoyed by all.

Ernesto Neto: Slow iis good. April 14-May 25, 2012. Tanya Bonakdar Gallery. 521 West 21st Street. NY. 10011.