At Jupiter Artland – Joana Vasconcelos : Gateway

When you get to Jupiter Artland just outside Edinburgh you are faced with a dilemma : there is just so much to see!.

We choose here to focus on a particular work by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos which is one of several in the gallery spaces around the garden produced by the same artist, and which will be in place all summer long until 30 September 2018.

When you approach it from afar, it is just a stiletto heel (albeit a very large one!). When you get closer you see that it is much more than that. A bit of fun, while at the same time proving what can be done with a bit of flair and expertise.  There is stainless steel and concrete in the work, using these materials to contrast the ideas of femininity and gender.

Vasconcelos has created large-scale sculptures like this before, but these works use domestic utensils to create something quite playful while highlighting some serious topics of the day.

The artist was born in Paris in 1971 and now lives and works in Lisbon.

She has a studio consisting of over 50 people, considered a medium-sized factory in Portugal where her team of skilled makers work on large and small projects.

The artist tries to keep traditional Portuguese craft skills- ceramics, knitting and crocheting alive, but she also feels that it is necessary- not just to make craft (that is repeating the past) – but to add her artistic concept.

Her exhibition at Jupiter of which this work is only one piece, displays many skills, sewing and embroidery in her Valkyrie, metal work and engineering.

This summer she also has a solo show at the Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain.

Bonnington House Steadings, Wilkieston, EH27 8BB

t 01506 889 900

Opening times

1 Jul – 31 August: Daily, 10am –​ 5pm
1 Sep –​ 30 Sep: Thu – Sun, 10am –​ 5pm