© Luís Vasconcelos - Atelier Joana Vasconcelos
Joana Vasconcelos had a major solo exhibition at the Château de Versailles in 2012. She was the youngest artist and the first female to host an exhibition in the renowned castle.
"I consider the Palace of Versailles to be one of the greatest exponents of Western culture. It showcased important conquests and is still today a symbol of excellence in art and a leading example of the most daring aesthetical experiences of the West. Versailles’ boldness, its penchant for experimentation and creative freedom are my biggest sources of inspiration and admiration. While the fascination and its influence over me is so present in the exuberance of the baroque form, it is no less in perceptible in the discreet conceptual silence that structures the work.
When I walk through the salons and the gardens of the Palace, I feel as though I am between reality and dream, everyday life and magic, between the festive and the tragic. I hear the revolutionary crowd, the echo of Marie-Antoinette’s footsteps, the music and the festive atmosphere of the salons. To interpret and to confront the dense mythology and the history of Versailles with contemporaneity, evoking the presence of important feminine figures that inhabited the Palace, crossing my identity and my own experience as a Portuguese woman born in France, will certainly be the most fascinating challenge of my career." - Joana Vasconcelos
Learn more on the artist’s site.
