In Rome ‘Venus’, the artist Vasconcelos ‘rereads’ Valentino’s fashion

On display are ‘crochet paintings’, crochet works, mechanical lotus flowers made with irons, the homage to ‘Strangers in the Night’, which compares the dramatic reality of prostitution with more romantic loves, accompanied by the voice of Frank Sinatra. And then a giant heart, fiery red, imagined with domestic utensils, forks and knives (the voice of Amalia Rodriguez in the background), the shoe with a monumental heel created with pots and lids, which celebrate female work at home, often hidden, but today rehabilitated. The path of the works of art, always combined with clothes from the Valentino collections, from 1989 to 2008 (cocktail dresses, in ostrich feathers and rhinestones, tulle and sequins, triumphs of silk, satin, organza, taffeta, embroidered corsets), culminates with ‘Garden of Eden’, an immersive environment, a mythical tale in which different female figures and archetypes converge, from the Valkyrie to Cinderella, from the Femme Fatale to the Seductress, in an expanse of flowers.

‘Venus’ is not just an exhibition, but also an important project with a social and educational impact. The students of the Maiani Academy and the New Academy of Fine Arts of Rome participated in the project and the Rebibbia Women’s Prison, the Severino Foundation, the Bambin Gesù Pediatric Hospital, the Medical Center hospice and the Differenza Donna Association were involved. Over 700 hours of work, more than 200 participants of all ages, over 200 kg of crochet modules made in the capital, from the center to the suburbs. “A dialogue between the arts, this exhibition inspired by Valentino’s clothes, his femininity, also in relation to the architecture of the places – explained Joana Vasconcelos – Six months of work to tell the story of the great stylist, but above all the history of women and fashion. Once a ‘prison’, control of women with their corsets and their strict rules, today an emblem of freedom and liberation”.

Giancarlo Giammetti confessed that for years “he had wanted to work with Joana Vasconcelos. We searched together for beauty through art and art through beauty. Because Valentino always said ‘I love beauty’, ‘I love the feminine, but not feminism'”.