Throughout her journey, the Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos jotted down her ideas and sketches through texts, drawings and collages in many sketchbooks that drive her creative work until nowadays. There are the early drawings of her organic shapes that made her so well-known as well as notes from art and jewellery classes, her early sculptures, performances, up to her first installation, Flores do Meu Desejo [Flowers of My Desire], from 1996.

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To celebrate the artist’s 50th anniversary we now share these personal recordings while creating a unique project: a rigorously handmade deluxe books edition. Each sketchbook was remade into a large-sized artist book, accompanied by an original artwork: a one-of-a-kind tile panel for each copy.

 

Until now we have published the first ten books, from 1989 to 1996. The print run comprises only nine copies per artist book, all printed in Fine Art on Hahnemühle paper made of a bamboo fiber that replicates all nuanced color hues as well as the collages matching the original and presented in an upholstered case box.

Each artist book displays unique upholstering materials: mirror, fabric, paper etc. Lastly, each edition holds a letter from writer Valter Hugo Mãe to Joana Vasconcelos, as a reply to a drawing previously sent by her to the writer.

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This project’s copyrights are all reverted to Fundação Joana Vasconcelos, in favour of solidarity causes they support.

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Books available at Artcurial Paris and Ceysson & Bénétière. 

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