LISBON | JOANA VASCONCELOS AT PALÁCIO NACIONAL DA AJUDA (PART 3/3)

Apologies for the lateness of this post, but my personal life got in the way. (You could wonder what sorts of exciting things are happening in my life at the moment that take me away from blogging, but really I just mean tons of boring work for university. Those dreaded and much anticipated last two weeks of classes have started. My life is a mess.) But here it is, as promised, the last of the Joana Vasconcelos' posts!

Insert personal note here: this is probably my favourite piece. It is just so elaborate and there is so much attention to detail, it's hard to imagine all the scrupulous work involved. It is an intrecate design made out of plastic forks. Of all things! The result is fantastic and I loved the way the cheap red plastic caught the light, so pretty.

I heard this tampon chandelier didn't make it to the Versailles exhibition, and I fail to see how a tampon is still an offensive or uncomfortable object to look at on the 21st century.

So there you go! This is the end of my trilogy on the Joana Vasconcelos exhibition at Palácio Nacional da Ajuda, in Lisbon. If you're looking for some cultural plans for the summer, I definitely recommend this. My own father wants to see this and asked if I wouldn't mind going again to keep him company, so I may even take another look at the exhibition soon.

(End of part 3 of 3)

LISBON | JOANA VASCONCELOS AT PALÁCIO NACIONAL DA AJUDA (PART 2/3)

Here we go, round 2 of the Joana Vasconcelos tour through the Palácio Nacional da Ajuda! I have chosen not to identify her art among the many pictures of the Palace deliberately. I think it's much more interesting to literally get the whole picture, but if you have any questions hit the comments!

It was a pity that the rooms were so poorly lit, the windows all being shut and covered. It adds to the beauty of the palace when you walk through it but it makes it so much harder to get the photographs right.

I am not a big fan of some of her work, but again- I really enjoyed the general effect and disposition of this exhibition. 

The final post should be up tomorrow!

End of part 2 of 3.

LISBON | JOANA VASCONCELOS AT PALÁCIO NACIONAL DA AJUDA (PART 1/3)

On Saturday the 4th of April I went to see the artist Joana Vasconcelos' exhibition at the Palácio Nacional da Ajuda, in Lisbon. I find some of her pieces very interesting and looked forward to see them in the Palace, having never seen them before. I love this idea of mixing the old and the new, the classic and the contemporary, and since her exhibition at Versailles had been a huge success I definitely wanted to witness this effect - albeit on a smaller scale, I can't help thinking it a little more appropriate to have her pieces in a portuguese setting. But hey, I'm biased...

 The exhibition opened on the 23rd of March, and will run until the 25th of August. Tickets sell at €10 for adults and €5 with student discount.

 

This was my second visit to the Palace, but apparently I've erased every memory of my first visit because I don't remember what we saw or what we did on that high school field trip, so I was as much in awe with the place as I was with Vasconcelos' work. I took around two hundred photographs, and I'd say some 30% include chandeliers and/or ceilings.

My favourite thing about this exhibition was how most of the installments looked natural, as if some of these modern art pieces had always been there along with the Palace's furniture. They fit right into place, and yet catch your eye almost immediately.

(In this particular picture above, the room was much too small and crowded to take a decent photograph of the entire room, but this "fountain" made out of irons was displayed next to a couple of real fountains from the Palace.)

I will have to split up the photographs from this exhibition since they are too many for a single post, even after I've made a selection. So this is the first of three blog posts on this exhibit, I'll try to upload the other two over the next couple of days!

End of part 1 of 3.