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Ernesto Neto to Kick Off Armory Artist Commissions

Published: April 20, 2009
NEW YORK—The Park Avenue Armory has announced a new program for which it will commission one artist a year to create a site-specific work for the space's sprawling Wade Thompson Drill Hall.

The "Drill Hall Commissions" program kicks off on May 14 with an installation by Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto called anthropodino. In his largest installation to date, Neto will span the cavernous space's ceiling with giant aromatic "stalactites" (measuring up to 69 feet long) that descend from a canopy of diaphanous material (measuring approximately 192 by 100 feet); while on the floor level there will be a series of monumental arches of translucent fabric fit together to create a sort of labyrinth. Hundreds of pounds of spices will fill the various elements, infusing the space with a cacophony of scents.

“We are a new organization whose mission is to provide the opportunity for artists to work at a scale and in a way that is not possible elsewhere in the city,” said Park Avenue Armory President and CEO Rebecca Robertson. "Ernesto is the ideal artist to launch our annual program and is creating for the Armory a singular experience in the Wade Thompson Drill Hall that will envelop and enmesh our visitors.”

"His work is awe-inspiring, visceral, and remarkably accessible to all generations," says curator Tom Eccles. The work will be on view through June 14.

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