You & I

2023

Views of the exhibition
Kunsthalle Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
Curator Jen Kratochvil

Paul Maheke’s first exhibition in Slovakia gravitates around topics of interdependency. Maheke stages circumstances formulated by the physical presence of objects, shapes, lines, forms, sounds, images and imaginations, or silly little animal figures. All of them build a resonating tension, interacting with each other, shifting attention from one to the other; drawing you in and out. Offering solace while immediately cutting your hopes short. There is a complex network of relationships in this exhibition and none of them are simply this or that, none of them exist within normalized binaries. They are all queer, which could mean anything, and that is just beautiful.

The exhibition You and I, presents Maheke’s film Mauve, Jim and John (2021), a tale about the various interactions between three entities. A tale based on modern myths, old fears and an escape from timeless oppressions. Although presented in A Black Box with its own separate entrance from the rest of the exhibition – Mauve, Jim and John, offers the viewer an interpretative lens through which they might perceive the remaining body of work present.

Extract from You and I by Jen Kratochvil, publication online for Paul Maheke’s exhibition You and I at Kunsthalle Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia, edited by Denisa Tomková, 2022