This exhibition, by Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto at the Hayward is completely bonkers. Brilliantly so. It is absolutely the thing to pop into over the summer - it'll lift your spirits, make you smile and if you bring your cozzie you can have a dip in the rooftop pool (see above, book in advance by telephone 0844 847 9910), which is a sort of bastard child of a swimming and a paddling pool.The exhibition guide is pretty pretentious, so i quickly glazed over, but walking through the exhibition's colourful tunnels, crawling into domed caves, climbing into womb, lung and heart like constructs all made from coloured stretched fabric that looks and feels like tights, i felt like i was simultaneously underwater (jellyfish, seaweed, fish-like associations), on a spaceship (colourful domes, labyrinthine passages, alien-like blobs), crawling through bodily passages and organs (capillary like extensions to the tunnels, bundles of spices, stones and herbs dotted about the place like undigested matter or fragrant mucus) and in a kids adventure playground (turrets to climb up, rooftop pool, walls to balance and walk along).
Since Ernesto Neto has critical acclaim lavished upon him like butter on hot toast, i am sure i was supposed to glean something deeply profound from the show, but I'm not exactly sure what i took away from it. a comforting sense of return-to-the-womb security? a renewed rush of childish glee? a sharpening of my adventurous streak? who knows, but it was fun.
ERNESTO NETO: The Edges of the World
19 June to 5 September 2010
Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre
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