Joana in a Good Place. Photo Gallery by photokhan at pbase.com

Joana in a Good Place.

Joana Vasconcelos is a Portuguese artist, probably the most relevant one in her generation, one that is increasingly managing to transpose her national-resonating creative approach, anchored in such subjects as Feminism, and Social and Political perspectives, as illuminated by our common national identity, into a body of work that has steadily been picking up international recognition over the last decade.

http://www.joanavasconcelos.com/menu_en.aspx

Since 1994, she has been exposing regularly both in Portugal and abroad, with highly favorable reviews.

This year, a very comprehensive exhibition of her works opened in March at "Palácio Nacional da Ajuda", in Lisbon, a beautiful 19th century neoclassic palace, one that served as the residence of the Portuguese Royal family until Monarchy was abolished in 1910. It has been a National Museum since the late 60's.

http://www.palacioajuda.pt/pt-PT/otherlanguages/ContentDetail.aspx

The "play" between the palace's historical atmosphere and Joana's contemporary work is a truly remarkable one and I can only but praise the curators and commissioner for the brilliant idea...and I must surely not be the only one feeling this since, during the first 2 of the 5 months exhibition (it will run until August), it received over 75,000 visitors, almost as many as the palace usually attracts in a full "good" year.

I am also extremely grateful that, demonstrating a not-so-common enlightened attitude towards photography, they have allowed for any kind of photographic equipment to be used by visitors, with the exception of flashes and tripods (...even this restriction, I believe, has more to do with the risk of affecting the palaces interiors and extremely valuable decoration pieces, than with the Joana's exposed works, themselves...).

These people and, especially, the artist seem to understand that depiction of a work of art in images is not an alternative for live contact with it and that photographs may actually act more like a reinforcement and/or a teaser than substitutes, at any level, for personal interaction with the represented pieces.

I spent roughly 3 hours fully enjoying the palace (...which I hardly remembered anymore, since I had only visited it as a child...) and Joana's remarkable, unique works.

Here's a selection of her works in the exhibition, including typical Portuguese pottery animals enrobed in crochet, a robotic piece made of pressing irons, a pair of giant high-heel shoes made from cooking pots and their lids, a chandelier built from tampons, a giant heart made of plastic cutlery and the amazing "Lilicoptère" an helicopter flamboyantly decorated with sequins, golden paint and pink feathers, a piece that made me burst laughing out loud when I first saw it.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

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comment

Tim van Woensel		28-Jun-2013 13:43
Indeed a wonderful gallery! Very interesting looking work.

bill friedlander		21-Jun-2013 17:38
An excellent gallery featuring the magnificent art work! All the subjects are beautifully captured and very nicely presented! V

blizzard		15-Jun-2013 13:32
each one is origina and artistic an excellent show of you talent BV

Tim Rucci		05-Jun-2013 14:57
Fantastifc imagery of some truly unique art! Nice work, Humberto! (V)

Marc Demoulin		04-Jun-2013 19:34
Great reportage on a great artistic work! vVv Marc

Rob Oele		03-Jun-2013 07:24
Great artistic suff; I especially like your beautiful POV's on the objects. VV

alfredo camba jr.		03-Jun-2013 00:35
Beautiful gallery! Very nice and interesting images! v

Zoltán Balogh		01-Jun-2013 15:27
I like your diverse gallery, great job! V

Apostolos Tikopoulos		01-Jun-2013 14:14
A really splendid gallery with many interesting and nice images. v.

C.		01-Jun-2013 09:35
Brilhante(s)! O fotografo certo para a artista certa. Beijos.

HAOPTO		01-Jun-2013 04:45
This is truly magnificent and surreal place; love the shooting angles and compositions.

Pedro Libório		31-May-2013 19:23
ambos fantásticos...o da Joana e o teu olhar sobre ele...adorei ambos!!!

Lennart Waara		31-May-2013 16:36
A very interesting and great gallery!

Ashley Hockenberry		31-May-2013 14:36
Bravo! especially like the architecture images !

Chris Spracklen		31-May-2013 11:21
An outstanding gallery, full of fascinating and vibrant images from what looks to be a stunning exhibition of artistic work. Congratulations on the high standard of photography and the superb presentation of your photos. BV

viljamix		31-May-2013 11:17
Most interesting!

Jola Dziubinska		31-May-2013 10:51
Fabulous gallery, Humberto, you did a great work to show us this wonderful and exceptional artist's exhibition. The marvelous palace interior is a perfect place for this kind of show. Thank you for sharing. V.

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