Flowers of My Desire, the first solo exhibition in Switzerland by celebrated Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, now on view at the Museo Comunale d’Arte Moderna in Ascona.
Curated by Mara Folini and Alberto Fiz, the exhibition brings together 30 works—including immersive installations, large-scale sculptures, wall pieces, paintings, drawings, videos, and artist books—offering a sweeping look at Vasconcelos’s multidisciplinary practice from the 1990s to today.
With her signature blend of craftsmanship and innovation, Vasconcelos invites visitors into a universe where textiles, found objects, and everyday materials are transformed into poetic, provocative forms. Among the highlights is La Baronessa, a ten-meter-tall Valkyrie-like textile sculpture, and Red Independent Heart #3, a rotating heart sculpture suspended in space, accompanied by the melancholic sounds of Fado. The show’s title piece, Flowers of My Desire, reveals the artist’s sensuous and subversive lens, while works such as Vista Interior, Cama Valium, and Fashion Victims #2 engage in critical dialogues around consumerism, gender, and social norms.
Flowers of My Desire also features Vasconcelos’s striking “Stupid Furniture” series, where discarded furnishings are reimagined into humorous, organic environments. These metamorphic forms merge sculpture with design, challenging conventions of utility and aesthetic. In tribute to the centennial of the 1925 Locarno Peace Conference, the exhibition aligns with regional initiatives honoring a pivotal moment of European reconciliation. Vasconcelos’s work resonates deeply with these themes, celebrating cross-cultural exchange and unity through the language of art. Throughout the exhibition’s run, visitors can enjoy a rich public program of performances, talks, fashion shows, and workshops in collaboration with local institutions such as Teatro San Materno, Monte Verità Foundation, and the Scuola Arti e Mestieri della Sartoria.
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Flowers of My Desire
Joana Vasconcelos
Museo Comunale d’Arte Moderna, Ascona
