VENUS

Rom ( I ) > 18.01.2026 - 19.07.2024

Valentino Garavani through the eyes of Joana Vasconcelos
In the solemn rhythm of Piazza Mignanelli – the intimate Roman threshold that borders Piazza di Spagna and preserves the history of Valentino Garavani – PM23 presents a new chapter in the journey imagined by Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti, an expression of the artistic and cultural experience of their Foundation and the starting point of a renewed commitment: to give back to the city an exhibition space dedicated to art, fashion and culture, seen as tools for dialogue, growth, and social progress. A place, both physical and ideal, where beauty is not a static concept but a driving force, capable of generating meaning and transformation. Dense with meaning and profoundly evocative, the exhibition offers a non-linear journey, combining representative works by Joana Vasconcelos with surprising new site-specific pieces inspired by Valentino Garavani’s legacy.

The exhibition is a dialogue. My work and Valentino Garavani’s speak to each other until they converge in a final, almost suspended moment. Mr. Valentino believes deeply in beauty – and so do I. Because beauty generates harmony, and harmony bears the promise of peace and social justice, a promise the world urgently needs today.” - Joana Vasconcelos

Through abstraction, the artist reinterprets clothing, shapes, and textile surfaces, giving life to the Valkyrie VENUS – a body of work that does not imitate, but rather engages with haute couture as a discipline of majestic beauty and masterful, hieratic excellence. 

Vasconcelos presents a monumental work which, intertwining thousands of decorative elements, gives life to a contemporary and abstract heroine, a symbol of power, protection and resilience. VENUS thus becomes an ambassador and interpreter of our time, an expression of a powerful and collaborative artisanal intelligence, of rediscovered identity, redemption, and of social vitality for the most vulnerable people in today’s world.

Conceived by the artist and created by thousands of hands – thanks to the collaboration between the Fondazione Valentino Garavani e Giancarlo Giammetti | PM23 and ten notable partners –, the work was created by the hands of over one hundred students from the Arts and Fashion departments of the NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, Campus di Roma, the Accademia di Costume e Moda, and the Maiani Accademia Moda; the hands of young patients at the Ospedale Bambino Gesù and their families; the hands of patients at the end of life at the Gemelli Medical Center; the hands of women from the INTERSOS refugee shelters and the Differenza Donna shelter for victims of violence; and the hands of female inmates at the Casa Circondariale del Carcere di Rebibbia, involved thanks to the partnership with the Fondazione Severino.

Text - und Bildquelle : Museumswebsite

PM 23
FONDAZIONE
Valentino Gravani e Giancarlo Giammetti
Piazza Mignanelli 23
Rom
Italien

weitere Infos: piazzamignanelli23.com/en