A couple of years ago, I took a look on
some French art magazine, whose cover featured a photograph of beautiful and
enormous, several-metre tall stilettos, standing in Versailles, labelled Joana
Vasconcelos.
“It’s so beautiful!” I thought.
MARILYN
Joseolgon / CC BY-SA
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
A couple of years later, I stumbled upon an
exhibition of her works while touring the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. There, I
could finally see these shoes with my own eyes. In the meantime, I didn’t
really take any interest to learn more about her works, so I wasn’t really
aware what to expect. What came next was a feeling of shock.
“Damn! They’re made of pots!”
► JOTA
ENE ◄ from Lisboa, Portugal
/ CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
Back in the day, I also saw a beautiful
crystal chandelier made by Joana. Now, I could see it from up close. It was
made of OB tampons. I’d lie if I said I wasn't disappointed.
THE BRIDE
Martin Kennedy (filmed by) / Studio International. Visual
Arts, Design and Architecture. studiointernational.com / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)
I decided to dig deeper and find out what
the artist has to say in her “defence”.
OBJECTS
Joana Vasconcelos holds some very specific
and particular views and ideas, which she expresses with her art, for example
by means of the material she uses in her works. Her pieces combine tradition
and modernity, home life and life in itself, simplicity, modesty and glam.
Stilettos made of pots, a mask of mirrors or a gun comprised of phones.
I'LL BE YOUR MIRROR
Amanda Slater from Coventry, West Midlands, UK / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
The artist makes a brilliant use of
everyday objects. Sometimes, one might encounter her at a supermarket, buying
countless teddy bears for her next installation. She gives everyday objects a
new perspective and meaning by using them in large quantities and creating new
objects, characterised by enormous size. The artist invites the viewer to her
home and her imagination – THE BRIDE is an invitation to the bathroom and
MARYLIN welcomes the viewers to the artist’s kitchen.
CRAFT
Joana Vasconcelos is very fond of
tradition, particularly craft, which often constitutes the core of her works.
She employs at least 20 different specialists and experts in their respective
fields – dressmakers, embroiderers, architects, lace makers and engineers, and
all her works are truly hand-made. Employing craftspeople from different
countries and cultural backgrounds is no accident – that’s a part of combining
tradition with modernity. It’s also a way to build symbolic bridges between
cultures. As the artist herself says, we cannot function only in the
contemporary times, isolated from the past, which is mediated by crafts.
VALKYRIE
Amanda Slater from Coventry, West Midlands, UK / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
ART WITHOUT FRONTIERS
Joana Vasconcelos’ exhibitions are more
involved than just moving the pieces from one place to another. The artist
prepares carefully for each one of her exhibitions. When presenting her
Valkyries in Denmark, she studied Scandinavian culture and the local colours,
adapting her works to the Danish light and culture. The Valkyrie created for
the Versailles differs from those created for Venice and Manchester. The former
is very subdued and its colours blend in with the room. The Venice one is
colourful. This all shows that the artist does her best to adapt her works to
the place they are shown in, because cultures, as well as perception of light
and colour are different in each of them. The light in Denmark is not the same
as in Portugal, the same goes to the perception of colours.
“I’m not an invader,” claims the artist,
respecting the people she makes her art for. Before she organised an exhibition
in Manchester, she made an attempt to get to know and understand the city, she
also used English-made fabrics in her sculptures. The United Kingdom can really
appreciate her installations, since the combination of modern present times
with fondness for tradition is one of the characteristic features of that
monarchy.
VALKYRIE
By Amanda Slater from Coventry, West Midlands, UK - Valkyrie
Marina Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=89371842
PLAYING WITH THE AUDIENCE
A large shoe made of small pots?
A giant heart created out of plastic
cutlery?
A mask made of mirrors,
a ring made of car rims,
a blooming flower made of irons?
RED INDEPENDENT HEART
By Alex Liivet from Chester, United Kingdom - Coração
Independente Vermelho, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71969901
SOLITAIRE
By Joseolgon - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79448316
Why not? The sheer scale and repetition
give the audience an opportunity to change their perception of a given object,
thus giving it a new meaning. The artist skilfully plays with scale of the
piece, the place where it is exhibited, the way it is installed and lit up, as
well as the materials she uses, all to establish a dialogue with the viewer.
The scale enables us to experience dualism – from afar, we see a beautiful
stiletto, but when we come up close, we see nothing but hundreds of pots. One
can experience the sculpture from a distance, or come closer and experience
either disappointment or delight.
FEMINIST?
I don’t think so, at least that's not how
she defines herself. This does not mean that she is indifferent to the problems
experienced by women, and she notices that women have fewer rights than men.
She took note of the fact that the first woman curator at the Venice exhibition
joined only in 2005, and that women are now between a rock and a hard place,
trying to run homes and make careers at the same time.
As a woman, she introduced fabrics and lace
to contemporary art, which are now equal to iron, steel and bronze. She proved
that large and meaningful installations can be made out of medicine boxes, and by wrapping animal figures, garden
sculptures and computers with hand-made lace, she enables us to look at them
from a completely different perspective.
By Alicia Nijdam from Cordoba, Argentina - Belem Palace with
pieces by Joana VasconcelosUploaded by JotaCartas, CC BY 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31225247
Personally, I find it hard to admire all of
her works unequivocally. I like Marilyn and Bride, but I’d rather
watch them from a distance. I barely noticed Valkyries in Bilbao, but Solitaire
was truly delightful – perhaps it was because I could see it from a distance as
well. I’m an amateur, a novice art aficionado, and as one, I’m very curious as
to what art history will have to say about these great works. Although if you
ask me, if I had a time machine, I’d certainly take Joana Vasconcelos’
beautiful stilettos with me.
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