Joana Vasconcelos’ Venus redesigns the Valentino universe

A new exhibition is on display in Rome until 31 May. It is called VENUS and was conceived by artist Joana Vasconcelos with PM23, the Garavani and Giammetti Foundation. VENUS recounts an unprecedented dialogue between contemporary art and high fashion: it redesigns the Valentino universe, giving new meanings to the figure of Venus as an archetype in constant transformation

by Domenico Casoria

Through the exhibition, Joana Vasconcelos confronts not only Valentino’s legacy, but also her idea of femininity. It is not a tribute, but a true creative dialogue between four hands. Through the myth of Venus, goddess of love and seduction, the artist takes a critical look at female identities in the present day. At the heart of the project is the monumental Valkyrie, a thirteen-metre-long sculpture that crosses the space like a living organism, changing, adapting, benign, sometimes malignant.

Vasconcelos redesigns the Valentino universe

In Norse mythology, the Valkyries guided fallen warriors. Vasconcelos transforms them into protective screens. Guardians of haute couture garments that become the object to be protected. Valentino’s haute couture masterpieces are an integral part of the story. The artist’s structure fluidly follows the colours and patterns of the garments.

A hybrid between classical divinity and contemporary creature

For Rome, among other things, the artist chooses to dedicate her Valkyrie to Venus, transforming her into a hybrid between a classical goddess and a contemporary creature. A ‘second skin’, as the note suggests, was created with crochet. Made with the help of artisan communities that have been collaborating with the artist for years. It is a work that brings space into play before sensations. The forms recreated by Vasconcelos dialogue with architecture, challenge it, transform it.

The Valkyrie is not an object to be contemplated: it is a place to be traversed, a body that engulfs the viewer. At its core is couture, which becomes a tool for investigation. The entire exhibition seeks to dismantle the female archetypes that patriarchal culture has constructed and handed down. Vasconcelos does not tell individual stories: she works on symbolic figures, on images that have defined and often limited the perception of women.

A new Venus

The domestic one, the muse, the seductress, the goddess. All emerge as reflections of a society that has imposed rather than negotiated. Thus, clichés become almost null and void. In one installation, the artist recreates a dress with Bosch irons that rise and fall in unison. Silampos pots, famous in Portuguese tradition, become the subject of analysis rather than instruments of oppression. Stacked according to size, they form two enormous décolletés. Here, too, three Valentino dresses are displayed around them. Glossy, silver, laminated. If the Valkyrie VENUS represents the mythological heart of the exhibition, the sculptures made from domestic objects constitute its political soul.

Confronting one’s own image

The metal reflects the surrounding space like a distorting mirror, forcing the viewer to confront their own image. Then, a long corridor. At the end, a dress that emphasises the most distorted nuances of love. Through black and red tentacles that almost envelop the silk shantung dress. The last space in the exhibition is a paradisiacal garden. Vasconcelos imagines it as a place that has always been linked to origin and perdition. In the room, eight black dresses that are almost invisible. The embroidery of a snake on the dress in the centre makes everything clear. The only source of light comes from artificial flowers that produce fibre optic effects. This subtext is clear: all archetypes are laid bare. In the garden of perdition, losing oneself is the only way to find oneself.

The tribute

The exhibition, which opened on 18 January, was interrupted the following day due to the passing of its founder, Valentino Garavani. Today’s reopening, therefore, takes on an even deeper meaning. VENUS thus becomes a way to celebrate Valentino’s legacy, while his idea of beauty continues to evolve.

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