Joana Vasconcelos: Le Château des Valkyries

Joana Vasconcelos, born in Paris in 1971, combines art, fashion and design in her work with unique persuasiveness and ease. Exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Palace of Versailles, the Uffizi in Florence and, last but not least, her spectacular contributions to the 2005 and 2013 Venice Biennales have made her a globally sought-after artist who fascinates and enchants audiences in equal measure with her sensually theatrical works. This was once again evident in spring 2023, when Vasconcelos caused a sensation at Paris Fashion Week with her monumental installation Valkyrie Miss Dior. The assembled fashion world was enthralled by the floral tentacle-like spatial installation, which formed the backdrop for the presentation of Dior's autumn and winter 2023/24 collection and was a masterful homage to Catherine Dior, sister of the designer.

At the subsequent Milan furniture fair, the renowned French furniture brand Roche Bobois presented the "Bombom" collection of colourful sofas and other furniture accessories, which was developed in collaboration with Vasconcelos. In 2024, the State Museum of Art and Cultural History is now dedicating its major summer exhibition to the Portuguese star artist on the Museum Island at Gottorf Castle in Schleswig. Joana Vasconcelos, whose parents returned to Portugal from exile in France after the Carnation Revolution of 1974 returned to Portugal from exile in France after the Carnation Revolution of 1974, sees herself as an artistic ambassador for her country. Her work is characterised by an appreciation of traditional Portuguese crafts and handicraft techniques, which she transfers into new contexts, reinterprets and takes out into the world. In doing so, she questions stereotypical notions of supposed women's art and makes excursions into Portuguese architectural, stylistic and colonial history. As a result, painted and glazed ceramic tiles, known as azulejos, are a recurring feature in her work, referring to the cultural heritage of the Moorish period on the Iberian Peninsula. The use of traditional handicraft techniques such as sewing, knitting, embroidery, crochet and lace-making as well as a pronounced sense of ornamental exuberance are also characteristic of many of her works.

The term "baroque" is of crucial importance to the artist. Derived from the Portuguese word "barroco", this epochal term originally referred to unevenly shaped, crooked or slanted pearls. The word was spread around the world in the 16th century and developed in Europe into a term for anything special, eccentric, strange or even bizarre. The characteristics of Baroque art include opulent and splendid depictions, dynamic compositions, movement and drama as well as expansive gestures, richness of detail, emotionality and illusionistic effects - these characteristics also apply to a large extent to the works of Joana Vasconcelos. Her "Valkyries" in particular, which can occupy a wide variety of architectural settings as pneumatic textile installations, combine baroque opulence and sensuality with self-confident statements of femininity, emancipation and feminism.

A total of eleven expansive installations, including the Valkyries Marina Rinaldi from 2014, Martha from 2022 and Thyra (Paris) from 2023, will be on display on the Gottorf Museum Island in the castle, in the Kreuzstall and in the riding hall as well as in the inner courtyard of the Eisenkunstgussmuseum in Büdelsdorf and show the many facets of Vasconcelos' artistic work.

Kilde:
Museumsinsel Schloss Gottorf