Aleksij Kobal & Manca Ahlin: Dilemmas Crisscrossed

The exhibition Dilemmas Crisscrossed by the painter Aleksij Kobal and designer Manca Ahlin that focuses on the universal issues of infinity and cyclicity will establish a unified ambience within the former monastery church. The jointly created work merges what seem to be two different practices into a coherent artistic whole that addresses the public on the visual as well as metaphysical level.

In the creation of their collective work, the artists leaned upon the multi-layered meanings of phenomena and objects such as the Möbius strip, torus and ouroboros. They use these motifs and forms to – through visual means – address certain basic dilemmas of today’s global civilisation, such as for instance the limits of human perception of the world, the cyclicality of history, social relations and ethical consensuses as well as the existential questions of freedom and democracy. The history of mankind is constantly repeating itself, as the world and society are constantly evolving, while constantly devolving to their starting points. Due to its specific shape the Möbius strip has been a unique scientific and philosophical enigma for more than a century. The form hides numerous absurdities of the declining western civilisation, which is directly proportional to the disintegration of the cohesive society and the substitution of social relations with transactional ones.

Aleksij Kobal (1962) is an artist working at the intersection of various media and disciplines; he originally started off as a visual artist, but he often works in the fields of literature and music. He graduated in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana in 1986 where he also defended his MA in 1993. He has been holding solo exhibitions since 1987, and his works of art can be found in numerous collections internationally. He was a member of the band The Stroj between 2003 and 2007, and in 2009 he published his literary debut Glas (Voice). He lives and works in Ljubljana.

Manca Ahlin (1977) is an artist working in design, architecture and arts and crafts. She graduated from the Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana, after which she started combining traditional lacemaking skills with design and architecture, which led to her international recognisability. Her practice is broad, for she designs spatial ambience and jewellery, as well as creates art installations. She is currently living and working in Ljubljana and New York.

Curator: Miha Colner

Photo: Jaka Babnik