The Casa de Alba Foundation presents Flamboyant. Joana Vasconcelos at the Liria Palace, a unique project in the history of the palace created by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos. The exhibition marks the start of an ambitious programme of contemporary art sponsored by the Foundation to coincide with its 50th anniversary.
Internationally renowned for her sculptures and monumental installations, the Lisbon-based artist transforms the halls and gardens of Liria Palace and merges them with one of the world’s most distinguished private collections of historical art. Unlike the artist’s similar interventions in other palaces such as Versailles, the Uffizi in Florence or Ajuda in Lisbon, this is the first time that Joana Vasconcelos has brought her works to an inhabited palace.
The artist’s exhibition at the Liria Palace opens a special dialogue not only between her works and those of great masters such as Velázquez, Goya or Tiziano, which are exhibited in its rooms, but also between her own personality and that of the Duke of Alba, present in every corner of this palace, which is also his home.
With this in mind, the artist has selected more than forty of her works and integrated them perfectly into the different spaces of the palace, some of which have never been visited before, such as the chapel, the music room and the gardens. “The Liria Palace is not a repository of history, but a living space that adjusts to contemporary contexts while preserving its essence,” says Vasconcelos, who is keen to establish a dialogue between contemporary art and the palace’s legacy.
A dialogue between past and present
The Liria Palace, which belongs to the House of Alba, dates from the 18th century and was largely built by the architect Ventura Rodríguez, making it one of the most important neoclassical palaces in Madrid. Since then it has been the residence of the Dukes of Berwick and Alba and in 2019 it opened its doors to the public to share its rich historical and artistic heritage with society.
Joana Vasconcelos’ artistic intervention in the palace spreads throughout its main halls and includes rooms not opened to visitors until now. “By showing my work in these spaces, I am inviting visitors to experience the palace as active participants in a transformative artistic dialogue,” explains the artist. “My installations seek to engage with the works of masters such as Velázquez and Goya, exploring how contemporary art can reinterpret their contributions and enrich our understanding of history”.
The Duke of Alba, Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, has a long tradition of patronage, as did his ancestors, who mingled with and sponsored the most prominent artists of their time, and he insists that it is “practically a duty to open the house to contemporary art with one of the world’s leading artists. In this intervention, the portraits of my ancestors, signed by great masters such as Goya, Tiziano, Rubens, Zuloaga and Madrazo, coexist with the surprising work of Joana Vasconcelos, bringing together the past and the present”.
The starting point of Joana Vasconcelos’ proposal is the hall of the palace with two lions: Vigoroso e Poderoso (2006-2024). These imposing guardians, made of cement and covered in crochet, mark the start of a tour that takes visitors to the most intimate corners of the palace, such as the chapel, which is open to the public for the first time and contains the artist’s famous Flaming Heart (2019-2022).
An example of how the artist’s work interacts with the palace’s history and collection is Carmen (2001), a striking iron lamp covered in black velvet. This work has been housed in the library of the Liria Palace, where a handwritten letter to the Countess of Montijo is kept, signed by Prosper Mérimée, author of the novel of the same name, adapted by Georges Bizet into the opera which, in turn, inspired this work. The piece, made up of several rows of multicoloured hoop earrings like those worn by the Sevillian dancers, also features the voice of María Callas singing the famous aria L’amour est un oiseau rebelle.
From the traditional to the popular and the everyday, other installations highlight the historical value of the Liria Palace and evoke Spain’s past, such as the Coraçao Independente Preto (2006), one of his most well-known creations, of which there are three versions: red, gold and black. Displayed in the Spanish room, the artist has chosen her version of the heart in black, alluding to the signature colour of the Spanish court during the Golden Age.
From her iconic Marilyn (2011) to the most recent Valkyrie Thyra (2023) or Familia Feliz #2 (2023), to J’Adore Miss Dior (2013) –a work created in collaboration with Dior and made using bottles of the French brand’s iconic fragrance– the exhibition also includes new pieces created specifically for the occasion. In the Zuloaga room visitors can see Velázquez and Goya (2024), two new works from the artist’s series of wolf figures, which on this occasion engage in a dialogue with the portraits that Zuloaga painted of several members of the House of Alba and which are exhibited in the hall.
Visitors will also be able to access the gardens, which are normally closed to the public, and admire La Théière (2025) for the first time, a new work in wrought iron and ornamental vegetation in the form of a large teapot surrounded by jasmine.
Art on a small scale
Besides this exhaustive tour of the colossal works of Vasconcelos at the Liria Palace, Flamboyant is an opportunity to discover other facets of the artist’s work, such as jewellery, drawings, models, etc., and ‘small-scale’ works, which are housed in the temporary exhibition hall of the palace, mostly selected from Atelier Joana Vasconcelos and on loan from Baró Galería.
This space allows the public to return to some of the artist’s signature materials, such as crochet or ceramic tiles in works such as Gestalt (2017), BonBon (202) and Hypercube (2014). But there are also other aspects of her work, such as jewellery, with the refined Extravaganza (2022) necklaces –in sterling silver, red ceramic lacquer and rubber– and Vortex (2013), made of gold and 302 rubies, the Tríptico Alfa (2019) series of drawings or the silver-plated brass sculptures A Joanina (2014) and Bouquet (2024).
In addition, this room offers visitors the opportunity to learn more about Vasconcelos’ work through the models of her pieces, which suggest and give an insight into the creative process behind them. On show are different versions of some of her most iconic works, such as Bolo de Noiva, as well as some of the pieces in the exhibition itself, such as Solitário, the large ring installed in the gardens.
Visual and emotional impact
Influenced by Nouveau Réalisme, Vasconcelos’s work is characterised by a desire to reconnect art with life, using everyday or craft materials such as tiles, traditional embroidery or ceramics, often decontextualised in terms of scale and use of colour. “Her work is always intimate, captivating and stimulating the viewer with a sense of humour or irony that has nothing to do with cynical detachment. Its impact is visual —it is colourful and baroque— and also emotional,” explains Enrique Juncosa, who wrote the texts for the exhibition catalogue published by Ediciones El Viso.
With the aim of “showing how contemporary art can revive historical spaces and foster a deeper appreciation of their relevance and vitality”, in the words of Vasconcelos, the works have been carefully selected to establish links with the collection and history preserved in each of the rooms, creating a balanced contrast between the bold Baroque forms of Vasconcelos and the order and balance of the palace. “Bridging the classical and the contemporary, this exhibition aims to celebrate the dual role of the Liria Palace as a custodian of history and as a space for cultural reinvention,” says the artist.
Joana Vasconcelos, Dior and the Liria Palace, a long-standing collaboration
This is not the first time that Dior, the sponsor of the exhibition, has collaborated with Joana Vasconcelos on a specific project. The ties between the Lisbon artist and the French fashion house date back to 2013, when she was invited to create a work of art in the form of a giant pink bow —J’Adore Miss Dior — for an exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris to celebrate the 66th anniversary of the emblematic Miss Dior perfume. Since then, Vasconcelos and the French House have crossed paths at various times over the years.
In 2019, Dior and Vasconcelos reunited for the fourth edition of Dior Lady Art, an initiative through which the House promotes the dialogue between fashion and contemporary art through its iconic Lady Dior bag. For the occasion, the artist crafted a unique work by transporting the bag to her personal universe.
In 2023, Vasconcelos was again invited by the House’s artistic director of Women’s collections, Maria Grazia Chiuri, to design the monumental Valkyrie Miss Dior for the autumn-winter 2023/24 collection fashion show, held in the Jardins des Tuileries in Paris. Dior’s relationship with the Valkyrie series has continued ever since, as evidenced by the work Valkyrie Thyra (2023), which is on show in the exhibition and was produced in collaboration with the House, and the Valkyrie Dior, which was installed on the staircase of its new Lisbon boutique during the exhibition of her works in 2024.
Just as Dior and Joana Vasconcelos share a history, this is not the first time the Maison has collaborated with the House of Alba. In 1959, Yves Saint Laurent launched Trapèze, his first collection as artistic director of Christian Dior Couture, which was presented at the Liria Palace during his international tour.
The grand pageant, which took place on the night of 14th April, was attended by more than 2,000 guests, with the Duchess Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart as the grand hostess, allowing them to admire the entire collection, made up of 115 outfits, ten of which were donated for the benefit of the Salesian schools. The brand’s director was accompanied at the event by Suzanne Luling, director of Dior’s haute couture salons and a close childhood friend of the late Christian Dior, and their star model at the time, the French-Argentinian Kouka Denis, ‘Kouka’.
Joana Vasconcelos, Flamboyant, 14th February – 31st July 2025, Liria Palace
The exhibition is organised by the Casa de Alba Foundation and Atelier Joana Vasconcelos, with the support of Madrid City Council and the Community of Madrid, the backing of Mastercard and the patronage of the House of Dior, which has been working closely with the artist for more than ten years, giving rise to collaborations such as J’Adore Miss Dior, which is on show at the exhibition, or her recent exhibition at the brand’s new boutique in the city of Lisbon.
All images Install view: © Photo Juan Rayos
About the artist
Born in 1971, Joana Vasconcelos is a Portuguese visual artist with a career spanning over 30 years and a huge variety of media. Recognised for her monumental sculptures and immersive installations, she decontextualises everyday objects and updates the arts and crafts concept for the 21st century, establishing a dialogue between the private sphere and public space, popular heritage and refined culture. She questions the status of women, consumer society and collective identity with humour and irony.
International acclaim arrived in 2005 with The Bride at the first Venice Biennale curated by women where she has returned three times to date. In 2013 at the helm of Trafaria Praia she represented Portugal as the first ever floating pavilion at the event. She was the first woman and youngest artist to exhibit at the Palace of Versailles. In 2012 her exhibition was the most visited in France in 50 years with a record 1.6 million visitors. In 2018 she became the first Portuguese artist to have an individual exhibition at Guggenheim Bilbao. It was the third most visited in the history of the museum and according to The Art Newspaper the fourth best that year. In 2023 she was granted the honour to exhibit at the Uffizi Galleries and Pitti Palace in Florence alongside classical masters such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo or Caravaggio. Her Wedding Cake for Waddesdon Manor was considered “the first wholeheartedly joyful artistic masterpiece of the 21st century” by The Guardian and came second in its “best art and architecture” 2023 list.
Her artworks have also graced exhibits around the world such as Grassi Palace, Thyssen-Bornemisza, Royal Academy of Arts, Manchester Art Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Kunsthal Rotterdam, São Paulo’s CCBB and Pinacoteca, Istanbul Modern, Garage Centre for Contemporary Culture in Moscow, Le Centquatre and La Monnaie Paris, Palais de Tokyo and Hermitage. Additionally, she integrates the collections Tia, Ömer Koç, Berardo, The Rothschild Foundation, Calouste Gulbenkian, Culturgest, François Pinault and Louis Vuitton.
She received the rank of Commander of the Order of Infante D. Henrique by the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic in 2009 and became an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture in 2022. She manages the Joana Vasconcelos Studio with over 50 employees since 2006 and founded the Joana Vasconcelos Foundation in 2012 to support social causes, grant scholarships and promote art for all.
