Flamboyant - Joana de Vasconcelos 2025

Flamboyant is a landmark exhibition by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, presented at Madrid's Palacio de Liria in 2025. Organized to honor the Casa de Alba Foundation's 50th anniversary, the show features 40 of the artist's works and grants rare access to previously unseen rooms within the palace. For this exhibition, Vasconcelos — internationally acclaimed for her monumental sculptures and installations — transformed the rooms and gardens of Liria Palace, with her work engaging one of the world's most important private art collections, which includes pieces by Velázquez, Goya, Rubens, Titian, and Murillo. This marks the first time Vasconcelos has brought her works to a grand palace that is still inhabited, unlike her previous interventions in historical spaces such as the Palace of Versailles, lending the exhibition a special dialogue not only between her art and the space, but also between the artist herself and the Duke of Alba. The works are spread throughout the palace's state rooms, chapel, music salon, and gardens, creating striking juxtapositions at every turn. Visitors are welcomed by two imposing crocheted lions, Vigoroso e Poderoso, while the library — where the House of Alba keeps a handwritten letter by Prosper Mérimée — houses the giant chandelier Carmen, draped with folkloric earrings. Elsewhere, the iconic Marilyn installation fills a salon with shoes crafted from cooking pots, and the staircase is dominated by Valkyrie Thyra, a monumental textile sculpture made with fabrics by Dior. The exhibition seeks to establish a dialogue between contemporary art and the palace's enduring legacy, creating an interplay between past and present that reflects the dynamic evolution of culture.