Vasconcelos exhibits unpublished serigraphies inspired by signs of the zodiac

Uthe new collection of silkscreens of Joana Vasconcelos, inspired by the zodiac, is presented, as of today, in Lisbon, an exhibition organized by the Centro Português de Serigrafia (CPS), which brings together five of the 12 signs.

Called “Signos 311”, the exhibition is opened today, at 5:30 pm, at the headquarters of the CPS, in Rua dos Indústrias, and will be shown at the CPS Gallery, in the Cultural Center of Belém, until the next day 26.

The designation of the collection, edited in collaboration with the CPS, pays homage to the artist's father, photographer Luís Vasconcelos, partner number 311 of the CPS, establishing a personal and affective connection to this artistic project, indicates the CPS.

In this first presentation, silkscreens inspired by signs Aquarius, Balance, Crab, Lion and Scorpio are gathered, each with a limited edition of 150 copies. The collection includes even more a smaller screen printing, “Fénix”, with 200 copies.

The remaining seven signs will be presented in 2027, completing the collection, adds the CPS.

Transporting to the paper a visual language that crosses Joana Vasconcelos’ sculptural practice, the drawings “explore winding lines, curves and countercurves and vibrant colors, in a composition that opens space to abstraction and imagination”, describes the statement.

In the presentation of the project, the CPS states that, in the practice of the artist, astrology is a “tool of reflection and self-knowledge”, associated with individual awareness and the way each person relates to the world, also referring to the “symbolic transition to the Aquarius Age, related to the transformation and possibility of renewal of the values and structures of society”.

The collaboration between Joana Vasconcelos and the CPS will also have international expression with the show “Out of Line”, to be presented from 26 to 29 November, at the International Paper Art Fair (FIG) in Bilbao, Spain, dedicated exclusively to graphic work and art on paper,

Organized by the CPS in partnership with the Embassy of Portugal in Spain, the exhibition will bring together eight works of medium format on paper, carried out at different moments of the artistic journey of Joana Vasconcelos, which reveal its relationship with drawing and painting.

This participation, according to the CPS, aims to disseminate “a less known aspect of Joana Vasconcelos’ artistic work”.

Born in 1971, Joana Vasconcelos has a career of more than three decades, which is characterized by the decontextualization of everyday objects and the appropriation of traditional crafts, which adapts to the 21st century to question issues such as the role of women, consumer society and cultural identity.

Vasconcelos officially represented Portugal at the Venice Art Biennial in 2013, bringing a cacilheiro transformed by the tilery to the main enclosure of the contemporary international show.

She was the first female artist and the youngest creator to present her work at the Palace of Versailles (France), on an individual show that has set visitors' records, and has taken her production to institutions such as the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum (Spain), the Pitti Palace and the Uffizi Galleries (Florence, Italy), among others.

Joana Vasconcelos, the first artist to win the New Artists Award of the EDP Foundation in 2000, began to exhibit in the 1990s, and her work was designed internationally in 2005, when she participated in the Venice Biennale with the play “The Bride”, a monumental chandelier composed of female intimate hygiene caps.