VENUS: Valentino through the eyes of Joana Vasconcelos

Joana Vasconcelos brings Valentino’s haute couture into her sculptural universe, weaving together femininity, freedom, and hints of magic.

On the occasion of its 10th anniversary, MAAT is presenting “VENUS – Valentino Garavani through the eyes of Joana Vasconcelos”. The exhibition brings together art and fashion, fostering a dialogue between Valentino Garavani‘s legacy and Joana Vasconcelos’ artistic vision.

Originally conceived by Fondazione Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti, the exhibition made its debut earlier this year in Rome. Now, a reimagined version emerges in Lisbon, integrated into a new architectural setting. It opened to the public on October 2, and runs at MAAT until February 22, 2027.

At the heart of the exhibition is “Valkyrie Venus”, a centrepiece conceived by Joana Vasconcelos with Valentino’s legacy in mind. The imposing crochet sculpture was built through a community-driven process, involving over 200 participants across Lisbon and Rome.

IRK: This exhibition celebrates the legacy of Valentino Garavani. How do you approach reinterpreting another artist’s legacy while maintaining your own artistic voice?

Joana Vasconcelos: From the beginning of my dialogue with Valentino Garavani’s world, I perceived a profound affinity between what he calls beauty and what I understand as the expression of freedom and the presence of women in the world. For me, Valentino’s desire for female empowerment is not merely an aesthetic celebration. It also lies in a woman’s capacity to exist, assert herself, and transform her own narrative. This beauty is not superficial; it’s a power that fosters harmony, dialogue, and social justice. In my work, this translates into transforming everyday objects and symbols into sculptural gestures that question and liberate representations of women. In VENUS, this dialogue with dresses and artisanal tradition unites the hands and voices of many women and communities, reinforcing that the collective act of creation is in itself a gesture of emancipation.

IRK: The female figure and elements associated with fashion are frequently present in your work. In this exhibition, haute couture takes center stage, in dialogue with your pieces. How did you develop the process of selecting and combining the pieces with the dresses?

Joana Vasconcelos: It was a very intuitive process, in which I sought to establish relationships between the colors, textures, and silhouettes of Valentino’s haute couture dresses and my own work. I wanted the selection to reflect the diversity of his creations and encompass different moments of his legacy. It was meticulous work, but extremely fun and creative, because it allowed me to discover new affinities between my universe and Valentino’s. Ultimately, we were creating a dialogue between two artistic visions, with their own sensibilities, to give rise to a new shared world.

IRK: At the heart of this exhibition is “Valkyrie Venus”, a textile sculpture designed in dialogue with the legacy of Valentino.The work is presented through a journey that brings together different female figures, such as the Femme Fatale, the Sex Worker, Cinderella, the Phoenix, and the Sorceress. These figures can certainly be interpreted as feminine archetypes. What interests you in this juxtaposition of different representations of women? 

Joana Vasconcelos: Venus is the goddess of love, femininity, and beauty, and in that sense, I see her as a representation of all women. Valkyrie Venus is, above all, a celebration of womanhood and the multiplicity of ways of being a woman. I am precisely interested in placing such different figures side by side because femininity is not a single reality, nor should it be limited to predefined models or expectations. Throughout my work, I use elements traditionally associated with femininity, such as textiles, home, color, and handicrafts, to question norms and propose new interpretations. In this sense, the work is also a form of empowerment and a poetic reclaiming of each woman’s freedom to construct her own identity.

IRK: In your work, the representation of women as machines often appears in contrast to their representation as sensual or ethereal figures. Do you believe that these images can coexist as forms of female empowerment, or do they also reflect expectations and roles imposed by society?

Joana Vasconcelos: I think the multidimensionality of women is particularly evident in this exhibition. My sculptures, constructed from everyday objects, evoke the material world of women as a machine, the domestic sphere. Valentino’s dresses explore female sensuality, while Venus refers to a more ethereal dimension. I am interested in working with these different representations because I believe they can coexist and take on new meanings.

IRK: You often transform everyday objects and use traditional craft techniques to create monumental works. What determines your choice of materials, and how do their original meanings influence the final piece?

Joana Vasconcelos: The materials are carefully selected because they are extremely important in my work. They exist to add layers of meaning, and always have a symbolic as well as a narrative role. I choose them for the historical, cultural, or emotional weight they carry. Crochet, for example, refers to domestic work, to feminine tradition, but when I use it to cover a ceramic animal, or an imposing Valkyrie, I change the context and its meaning. It is this dichotomy between material, form snf concept that interests me, thus the materials are carefully selected depending on the imagery I am developing and the thoughts or emotions I want to evoke.

Joana Vasconcelos

Joana Vasconcelos is a Portuguese visual artist, with more than three decades of artistic practice under her belt. She is recognised for her use of everyday objects to create monumental sculptures. Through her work, she explores themes such as private and public life, gender issues, consumer society and collective identity.

She achieved international recognition in 2005 with The Bride, presented at the first Venice Biennale curated by women. Subsequently, she returned to Venice for the Biennale on three other occasions. Joana Vasconcelos was the first woman as well as the youngest artist to have a solo exhibition at the Palace of Versailles in 2012. This was the most visited exhibition in France in 50 years. Furthermore, in 2018, she was the first Portuguese woman to hold a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Bilbao. This exhibition was the third most visited in the museum’s history. Additionally, exhibitions followed at the Galleria degli Uffizi and the Pitti Palace in Florence, and at the Liria Palace in Madrid.

She received the rank of Commander of the Order of Infante D. Henrique. Additionally, she was appointed Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture. In 2012, she founded the Joana Vasconcelos Foundation, dedicated to awarding grants, as well as to promoting access to art.

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Feature image: View of the exhibition “VENUS – Valentino Garavani through the eyes of Joana Vasconcelos”. MAAT, 2026. Photo: Joana Linda. Courtesy EDP Foundation/MAAT