The nature of Joana Vasconcelos's creative process is based on the appropriation, decontextualisation and subversion of pre-existing objects and everyday realities. Starting out from ingenious operations of displacement, a reminiscience of the ready-made and the grammars of Nouveau Réalisme and pop, the artist offers us a complicit vision which is both critical of contemporary society, and enunciates several features of the collective identity, especially those that concern the status of women, class distinction or national identity.
Her work became known internationally after her participation in the 51st Venice Biennale in 2005. She was the first woman and the youngest artist to exhibit at the Palace of Versailles in 2012. Recent highlights of her career include a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Pavilion of Portugal at the 55th Venice Biennale. Private and public collections include the Pinault Collection, Paris and Venice; The Rothschild Collection, Waddesdon, UK; Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus, Denmark; City of Lisbon; City of PAris; Jupiter Artland, Scotland.
