Joana Vasconcelos - Bullets' Ball Editorial Image

Joana Vasconcelos is an Portuguese artist, and she’s arguably the most prominent of Portugal’s contemporary artists. She’s recognized as Portugal’s top contemporary artist, having one of her pieces recently sold for half a million euros at a Christie’s auction . Her exhibitions have been already held in 14 countries where one of the most prominent was in the Venice Biennial 2005. Several awards have been already given to Joana’s work including the “The Winner Takes it All” from Fundação de Arte Moderna e Contemporânea – Colecção Berardo. Joana stands out within the Portuguese modern art in particular for providing a new meaning to the simplest objects. Who would imagine creating a giant shoe with pans and their lids? Joana Vasconcelos work in the outdoors has made her art widely noticed, not only by the art experts, but particularly, by the common citizen, used to the shapes and materials common in their daily lives. Joana works with artisans and gives a new way to look at traditions although she also uses materials apparently without value. For instance she puts handmade embroidery work on top of typical pottery from Caldas da Rainha; creates “monsters” with several textiles; or she uses maritime tools to create a giant necklace.