Joana Vasconcelos Merges Haute Couture and Sculpture in Lisbon Exhibition for Valentino Garavani

Lisbon's Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) is hosting a major exhibition titled "VENUS – Valentino Garavani through the eyes of Joana Vasconcelos" through February 22. The cultural showcase marks a unique collaboration between Portuguese contemporary sculptor Joana Vasconcelos and the Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti Foundation. The exhibition establishes a dynamic visual dialogue between the legendary Italian couturier's iconic fashion creations and Vasconcelos's monumental sculptural works, exploring the boundaries between fashion design and fine art.

Vasconcelos drew directly from Valentino's extensive archives, specifically seeking garments that transcended the designer's stereotypical "Valentino Red" palette to emphasize his structural embroidery and fabric variety. At the core of the installation stands "Valkyrie Venus," a monumental textile sculpture that incorporates the patterns, textures, and palettes of the archival gowns. "I wanted to show the diversity and the wonder of Valentino's work, the way he worked with embroidery, all the fabrics he used, completely different from one another," Vasconcelos told Euronews. "And it was from this work that the exhibition was born, in which we play on the paradox between the domestic and luxury."

Curated throughout MAAT's galleries, the visual journey juxtaposes high-fashion extravagance with everyday domestic objects, including irons, pots, cutlery, and feather dusters. One dedicated installation, dubbed the "Ironing Room," features delicate couture gowns that cannot be ironed surrounding a domestic appliance centerpiece. This staging highlights the contrast between the private, unobserved reality of the domestic sphere and the public realm, where Valentino's couture transforms women into goddess-like figures on public platforms.

The Lisbon showcase represents an adapted and expanded iteration of a project originally presented at PM23, the foundation's cultural space in Rome. The event also coincides with MAAT's 10th-anniversary celebrations, running alongside three other new contemporary art exhibitions. By contrasting haute couture craftsmanship with domestic motifs, the retrospective offers museum visitors a profound reassessment of identity, luxury, and female representation.