Joana de Oliveira Guerreiro, National Geographic

Mickey mouse on dogs make cover of national geographic

60cm x 40cm

industrial paint on canvas

Original Work

Based in Liverpool, Portuguese artist Joana de Oliveira Guerreiro delves into matters of art history, gendered authority and political power with a great dose of allegorical irony. Animation and painting are her principal mediums of choice, occasionally accompanied by photographs and poems. Following personal concerns for the environmental crisis of recent times, Joana privileges working with waste material, found around the docks where her studio is located. Instead of succumbing to the many restrictions arising from such sustainable decisions, like dealing with dried or mismatched paint, Joana’s creative process is able to bend what is on hand to inform and serve her desired outcome. All is worth commenting on giving the artist endless ideas and pathways to explore but there is a special ingredient that is the common denominator in all the work – humor and the possibility that something funny can transcend the most serious topics. This is driven by a conscious desire for turning social commentary into metaphoric representations and giving each body of work a bigger meaning.

This work is featured as part of the Convenience Gallery core curation at the Manchester Contemporary in 2023.