Donkeys

The group of pieces in ceramics and crochet are inscribed in the series of works created from a limited set of faience pieces designed by Raphael Bordalo Pinheiro (1846-1905); unanimously placed amongst the most renowned Portuguese artists of the 19th century. 

The appropriation carried out by Joana Vasconcelos, in the scope of Bordalo Pinheiro’s vast production in ceramics, only includes the naturalist representation of animals – some of them rendered oversize – whose proximity to Man might generate discomfort, awe or fear. Wasps; lizards and snakes; crabs and lobsters; frogs; bull-heads; donkey-heads and horse-heads; wolves; or even cats with an aggressive posture are ambiguously imprisoned/protected by a second-skin in crochet-work, producing a discourse apt to renovate the fluxes of signification associated with the usual relationships between popular culture/erudite culture and tradition/modernity.

The use of crochet in a paradoxical imprisonment/protection of the animals, thus relegated to the domestic context, opens up a vast and rich field of interpretation released by the beauty and strangeness generated by the result of the operation.

DonkeysDonkeys
Pistachio, 2018 © Atelier Joana Vasconcelos
DonkeysDonkeys
Pistachio, 2018 © Atelier Joana Vasconcelos
DonkeysDonkeys
Morgado, 2009 © Atelier Joana Vasconcelos
DonkeysDonkeys
Milord, 2009 © Atelier Joana Vasconcelos
DonkeysDonkeys
Sancho Panza, 2017 © Atelier Joana Vasconcelos
DonkeysDonkeys
Sancho Panza, 2017 © Atelier Joana Vasconcelos
DonkeysDonkeys
Conselheiro, 2014 © Atelier Joana Vasconcelos
DonkeysDonkeys
Conselheiro, 2014 © Atelier Joana Vasconcelos
Artwork Details
PRODUCTION DATE
Since 2005
MATERIALS
Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro oil painted faience, handmade cotton crochet and/or Azores crocheted lace
DIMENSIONS
45 x 41,5 x 42,5 cm
Artwork exhibited at
Through Mountains and SeasThrough Mountains and Seas
11/07/2023 > 06/08/2023Through Mountains and Seas
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BeyondBeyond
07/03/2020 > 09/01/2022Beyond
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Joana Vasconcelos - Palácio Nacional da AjudaJoana Vasconcelos - Palácio Nacional da Ajuda
23/03/2013 > 25/08/2013Joana Vasconcelos - Palácio Nacional da Ajuda
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Artworks