Joana Vasconcelos: Le Château des Valkyries
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 whose sensual, theatrical works fascinate and enchant her audiences. Joana Vasconcelos, born in Paris in 1971, creates works that blend art, fashion, and design with ease and in unique, compelling ways.
The Schleswig-Holstein State Museums are dedicating the most extensive exhibition in Germany to the Portuguese artist to date. Ten room-filling installations can be seen on the Museum Island in Schleswig, including the Valkyries Marina Rinaldi, Martha and Thyra. Another monumental work - Ostfriesland - is on display at the Ornamental Cast Iron Museum in BĂĽdelsdorf. The exhibition shows the many facets of Vasconcelos's artistic oeuvre.
An exhibition at two locations - in Schleswig and in BĂĽdelsdorf
This became evident once again in the spring of 2023, when Vasconcelos caused a sensation at Paris Fashion Week with her monumental installation Valkyrie Miss Dior. Serving as the backdrop for the presentation of Dior’s Autumn/Winter 2023‒2024 Collection, this expansive floral, tentacle-like installation, a masterful homage to Catherine Dior, the designer’s sister, delighted the assembled fashion world.
At the subsequent Milan Furniture Fair, the renowned French furniture company Roche Bobois presented the Bombom Collection of colourful sofas and other home accessories based on designs by Vasconcelos.Â
And finally, social media as well as art and design magazines brimmed with accounts of the gigantic Wedding Cake which the Portuguese artist had created for the gardens of Lord Jacob Rothschild’s Waddesdon Manor in southern England: a twelve metre high, three-storey, walk-in wedding cake, a cross between confectionery and architecture made of 25,000 Portuguese tiles that, assembled, presented a playfully ironic monument to love.Â
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