'I'M YOUR MIRROR'.....

Reconnecting art and real life has been a commitment of the Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, polemical somehow as she addresses complex issues, with wit and humor. I'm Your Mirror is her latest exhibition, since last month on show in Oporto. Although I'm not an enthusiast of her artworks, I had the opportunity to visit it a few weeks ago.

The mirror that Vasconcelos' oeuvre puts together is a critical one inspiring a will to change the society it reflects, while the monumental work titled Finisterra is a piece using volumes of fabric stitched to create multi-coloured abstract images that are gold-framed and hung on walls like paintings.

Animal-shaped faience covered with Azores crocheted lace 

Have you ever had a ride on a helicopter such as the so-called Lillicoptère (ostrich feathers, Swarovski branded crystals, gold-leaf industrial paint, dyed leather, upholstery embossed with fine gold,  walnut wood, woodgrain painting and passementerie)??? I guess not...

After the ride, let's go outdoors and see a few monumental scale works.

Solitario mounted on an iron and steel structure consists of a seven-metre-tall ring made with golden wheel rims topped with a huge diamond formed with crystal whisky glasses

An enormous structure in wrought-iron - a teapot -,  imposes its monumental presence. There is a subtle historical allusion present in the piece that regards the leading role taken on by the Portuguese in the introduction of tea in European habits of consumption after their arrival in the East, having brought back to Portugal shiploads of tea which would then be exported to several European ports; or the example of Catherine of Braganza (1638-1705), Portuguese Infanta and Queen Consort of England and Scotland, to whom is also attributed the role of having introduced the custom of drinking tea into the English court.  

Tea-time is over and let's walk further and stop at Marilyn. ..

Yes, you read right. It takes the form of an elegant pair of high-heeled sandals, whose enlarged scale results from the use of saucepans and their respective lids. 

Intentionally, I left the Red Independent Heart to mark the end of this blog post. It presents itself in the shape of an enormous 'heart of Viana', the iconic piece of Portuguese filigree,

 patiently filled in with individual pieces of plastic cutlery, each painstakingly bent by hand....

We will meet again, soon!
In the meantime, stay well...
~~Thanks for joining me~~