Lisbon exhibition pairs Joana Vasconcelos sculptures with Valentino designs
The show at MAAT runs until 22 February and forms part of the museum’s 10th-anniversary celebrations.
Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos has brought her sculptures together with garments by Italian designer Valentino Garavani for an exhibition at Lisbon’s Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT). Titled “VENUS – Valentino Garavani through the eyes of Joana Vasconcelos”, it combines existing works and new creations with selections from the designer’s archive.
The project grew out of a collaboration involving Vasconcelos and the Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti Foundation. Given access to the archive, the artist said she wanted to explore the variety of Valentino’s fabrics and embroidery rather than focus on his signature red, although a garment in that colour is included.
At the centre is Valkyrie Venus, a textile sculpture incorporating colours and textures drawn from the selected clothes. Vasconcelos said the exhibition contrasts domestic life with the public image of women dressed in luxury fashion. Household objects, including feather dusters, pots and cutlery, appear along the visitor route. In a display she calls the Ironing Room, dresses that cannot be ironed flank a composition featuring irons.
The Lisbon presentation adapts an earlier exhibition at PM23, the cultural space established by Valentino and Giammetti in Rome. That version ran until 19 July 2026. The MAAT show is part of the museum’s programme marking its 10th anniversary.
