Joana Vasconcelos (b. 1971)
Chelsea
signed, titled and dated ‘Chelsea, 2011 Joana Vasconcelos’ (to the underside)
Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro faience painted with ceramic glaze and bobbin lace and hand-made cotton crochet
9⅞ x 17¾ x 48⅜in. (25 x 45 x 123cm.)
Executed in 2011

Provenance:
Haunch of Venison, London.

Δλ Please see our Conditions of Sale for definitions of cataloguing symbols.

Specialist Notes:

Delicate patterns of handmade cotton crochet and lace made up of circular designs, flowers and swirls, envelop the faience fauna of renowned 19th century Portuguese artist Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro (1846-1905). At once intensely alluring and repelling, the finely wrought needlework acts as a comforting symbol of feminine domesticity and a tool of entrapment. Mummified in time, the animals are imprisoned in their beautiful second skin. While they become standardized in terms of texture, a nuanced pattern emerges for each, that along with their names chosen by artist Joana Vasconcelos, yield a bit of individuality.

Crochet, a traditional handicraft, alludes to the sphere of domesticity. By appropriating ceramics from the 19th century and paradoxically overlaying them with fine needlework, Vasconcelos propels these two media into the realm of contemporary art. 'The crochet pieces are great fun because the viewer might think, “Gosh, that's just like the crochet back at home, just like my Grandma's or my Mum's!” Then they think, “Actually, it's in bad taste”. But I like it because I find in it a certain identity, something I recognize. It's like what I have at home, but now I'm seeing it in an artistic context' (J. Vasconcelos quoted in J. Lageira & A. Perez Rubio, Joana Vasconcelos, Lisbon 2007, p. 164). The contrast between mass-produced and handcraft paradoxically achieves a certain harmony when we accept the objects as purely aesthetic. The play between the new and the old, generate a discourse not only around contrast and opposites but also around authorship of the work. By giving the ceramics a second life, Vasconcelos is an active part in the reimaging of these complex and intriguing objects on both a textual and metaphorical level.

-