This catalogue has been on my bookshelf since 2012, when installations by the Portuguese artist rampaged through the Palace of Versailles and spilled out into its gardens.
Beginning in 2008, Versailles’ has shown nine artists in its summer contemporary art programme: Vasconcelos has been the only woman. The scale and ambition of her work competed brilliantly with the rococo interiors – giant stiletto shoes made of saucepans stood in the Hall of Mirrors; and a helicopter covered in gold leaf, rhinestones and pink ostrich feathers appeared to have just landed.
In 2012 I had just become the creative programmer at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton: Vasconcelos was an inspiration for our contemporary art programme.
As the idea of placing new art in old properties has flourished, her work still inspires me through its use of spectacle, massing and materials to comment on the narratives and ambiguities of its historical setting.
Nicola Coleby manages partnerships and special projects at Brighton Royal Pavilion & Museums
Beginning in 2008, Versailles’ has shown nine artists in its summer contemporary art programme: Vasconcelos has been the only woman. The scale and ambition of her work competed brilliantly with the rococo interiors – giant stiletto shoes made of saucepans stood in the Hall of Mirrors; and a helicopter covered in gold leaf, rhinestones and pink ostrich feathers appeared to have just landed.
In 2012 I had just become the creative programmer at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton: Vasconcelos was an inspiration for our contemporary art programme.
As the idea of placing new art in old properties has flourished, her work still inspires me through its use of spectacle, massing and materials to comment on the narratives and ambiguities of its historical setting.
Nicola Coleby manages partnerships and special projects at Brighton Royal Pavilion & Museums
