Joana Vasconcelos
Joana Vasconcelos is an internationally acclaimed Portuguese artist known for transforming everyday objects into large-scale sculptures and immersive installations. Her work blends craftsmanship, technology, and cultural symbolism, creating visually striking pieces that challenge the boundaries between fine art and popular culture.
Biography
Bio
Joana Vasconcelos was born in 1971 in Paris and has Portuguese heritage. She lives and works in Lisbon and is internationally recognized for her large-scale sculptural installations.
Academic Carrer
Joana Vasconcelos studied visual arts at Centro de Arte & Comunicação Visual in Lisbon, where she developed her foundation in sculpture, materials, and multidisciplinary artistic practices.
Professional Carrer
After beginning her career in the 1990s, Vasconcelos gained international visibility at the Venice Biennale in 2005. She later became the first Portuguese artist to exhibit at the Palace of Versailles. Her work has since been shown in major museums and exhibitions worldwide.
Influences
Her work draws on Portuguese craft traditions, decorative arts, and contemporary culture. She often transforms everyday objects through scale, color, and textile techniques to explore themes of identity, femininity, and collective memory.
Works from Joana Vasconcelos
Herança
Joana Vasconcelos & Alexandre Farto aka Vhils
Edition of /150 + 15 AP + 5 RN
Screen print on tarpaulin mounted on stretcher, with feathers and/or embroidered textile details
Signed and numbered by the artists
140 × 100 cm
2025
*The tarpaulins and feathers/textile elements may present variations in colour
**The artworks will be delivered within up to 90 days from the date of purchase.
***Colors will be distributed randomly among the orders.
Born from this unprecedented collaboration, the project stands as a heartfelt tribute to the women of rural Portugal and the stories that shaped the country. The editions originate from a monumental concrete portrait evoking the internal migrations of the twentieth century, an image of resilience, labour, and transformation.
Developed on industrial canvas, each piece begins with Vhils’ screen-printed foundation and is completed with Joana Vasconcelos’ meticulous handcrafted interventions. The Normal Editions feature feather compositions, while the Artist’s Proofs combine feathers with embroidered elements. Though rooted in the same 100 × 140 cm image, every work is entirely unique, a meeting of subtraction and addition that yields endless possibilities.
Herança - Artist's Proof
Joana Vasconcelos & Alexandre Farto aka Vhils
Edition of /150 + 15 AP + 5 RN
Screen print on tarpaulin mounted on stretcher, with feathers and/or embroidered textile details
Signed and numbered by the artists
140 × 100 cm
2025
Please note that the Artist’s Proofs are still being developed by the artists. The artworks will include additional embroidery and interventions that are not yet fully represented in the current images.
*The tarpaulins and feathers/textile elements may present variations in colour
Born from this unprecedented collaboration, the project stands as a heartfelt tribute to the women of rural Portugal and the stories that shaped the country. The editions originate from a monumental concrete portrait evoking the internal migrations of the twentieth century, an image of resilience, labour, and transformation.
Developed on industrial canvas, each piece begins with Vhils’ screen-printed foundation and is completed with Joana Vasconcelos’ meticulous handcrafted interventions. The Normal Editions feature feather compositions, while the Artist’s Proofs combine feathers with embroidered elements. Though rooted in the same 100 × 140 cm image, every work is entirely unique, a meeting of subtraction and addition that yields endless possibilities.



