ART | MGM announces Joana Vasconcelos exhibition in town

The internationally celebrated artist Joana Vasconcelos will be presenting her first solo exhibition in China in Macau. The Portuguese creator is the latest addition to MGM Macau’s art program. She has designed an exhibition to be showcased at MGM’s Grande Praça between March 16 and October 31.
According to a press release issued by MGM, “the aesthetic installation is inspired by the venue décor of MGM Macau, Vasconcelos also draws with the marine and the maritime in mind, and connects with the Portuguese heritage of Macau.”
“Exhibiting at MGM Macau’s Grande Praça constitutes a very special moment in my career, particularly due to the connection with the history of the epic Portuguese overseas expeditions to the Orient and the relations between Portugal and Macau, as well as my family’s passage through the territory,” the artist said. “The Portuguese atmosphere of the Grande Praça is the ideal scenery to receive the monumental works I’ve created for the MGM Macau,” she added.
Central to the exhibition is Valkyrie Octopus, the largest piece to date in her iconic Valkyries series, which she has been working on since 2004. This amorphous organic form hangs from the skylight dome of MGM’s central atrium. The various textures and richness of detail in the piece result from Vasconcelos’s practice of appropriating textiles and ornaments of different origins. She combines artisanal techniques such as crochet and Nisa embroidery (from the Alto Alentejo region of Portugal) with thousands of LED lights and boldly colored, patterned materials embellished by various kind of beads in a patchwork of patterns, shapes and textures.
The artist also offers visitors the opportunity to become part of the artwork with three large-scale floor sculptures from the Tetris series: Chiado, Alfama and Mouraria, upon which viewers can sit and contemplate, from three perspectives, the exhibition that envelopes them. These works explore the intersections of sculpture, architecture and painting. The artist draws on the Grande Praça’s unique characteristics with its prominent façades inspired by iconic Portuguese buildings. The titles refer to Lisbon’s main historic neighborhoods and the works are clad in handmade tiles (azulejos) complete with motifs and themes common in 17th century Portuguese and Hispano-Moresque tile work. Tubes and protuberances in crochet and exuberantly colored fabric spill from the structure into the surrounding space.
Joana Vasconcelos exhibited extensively at numerous editions of the Venice Biennale including Trafaria Praia, her project for the Portuguese Pavilion in 2013 as well as the first floating pavilion in the history of the Biennale. Recent solo exhibitions were held at equally prestigious venues including the Château de Versailles, Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Palácio Nacional da Ajuda (Lisbon).  Vasconcelos was similarly showcased at the Gucci Museo with works from the François Pinault Collection. Her sculptures are distinguished by their monumental scale, mixed use of appropriated materials and mastery of organic form, colour and artisanal techniques.