I was thrilled to see my daughters interacting with art at Ernesto Neto exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. His piece, Water Falls from My Breast to the Sky, 2017, is textile art along with other materials including wood, polyurethane foam, and lavender.
I wasn’t familiar with Ernesto Neto and I learned that is one of the most prominent artists to come out of Brazil in the past 20 years. He creates an immersive environment for all the senses. This piece allows the viewer to climb in, smell the lavender, as well as view the three stories of knitted organic shape than cocoons into a nest at the bottom.
His piece of blue, yellow, and green yarns reflects the Brazilian flag. He invites the viewer in, allowing them to enter the installation by climbing in to lie down for a view up to the top. There scented herbs and seeds that give off a pleasant scent. The cocoon structure, which requires you to remove shoes before entering, also feels like a nice place to lie down for a nap though there are usually people waiting to enter.
Interacting with art makes it accessible for kids who don’t necessarily like art museums like my middle child. I also like how she can view art as non-traditional paint-on-a-canvas. Art can also be anything imagined from common everyday materials like yarn.
This reminded me of finger knitting! A fun project for kids would be to finger knit their own art piece. Perhaps their piece will invite interaction with the audience as well!
My kids were actually there to see Virgil Abloh “Figures of Speech” exhibit. Virgil Abloh is an architect, designer and creative director for Kanye West. He is the founder and designer for his label Pyrex Vision and OFF-WHITE.
They were all familiar with his streetwear — I wasn’t — and thought he was a big deal. Is streetwear art or clothes? Is it couture or for the people? Virgil Abloh’s exhibit showed that it was all of these things.
I liked how they experienced his art by watching a video of him that was part of the exhibit where he describes his art and his journey. They were also able to touch his art as clothing for sale at the pop-up store.
My daughter just had her first day of classes at RISD yesterday. After visiting art museums in Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris, she was tired of fine art being defined primarily by white, European men. Her art history class examines what fine art is in the modern world and steps away from this common paradigm of art. She couldn’t be happier. Art is for everyone and by everyone. That’s how we saw art here at the Museum of Modern Art in Chicago. And, apparently, it’s how RISD does too!
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More posts on art:
Ansel Adams: In Our Time at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston
10 Diverse Picture Books on Fine Artists
Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum
Civil Rights Movement through Art and Books for Kids
Civil Rights Movement Art #BlackLivesMatter
Visiting Artist Victor Hugo Zayas
Poetry for Kids: Haiku using Japanese Art
Performance Art: Can You Spot Him? A real life Halibut Jackson
Top 10: Best Books for Young Artists (ages 2-18)
Art Museum Visit Brings Books Alive
From Trash to Fine Art: Upcycled Plastic Sculptures
How to Draw Hands and Feet by John Singer Sargent
Art Competitions for Kids and Teens
My books:
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
- Starred review from School Library Journal
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award longlist
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me
