Slaven Tolj: Achilles' heel

The expression ‘Achilles’ heel’ is a mythological symbol of someone’s weakness. Or, metaphorically, of the general idea that everyone has a weakness.Slaven Tolj uses this commonplace notion of the title term as an associative reflecting body that mirrors this term's reflection in all of his displayed works. (…) If someone unfamiliar with Tolj’s concept entered the gallery, they would leave with one big or several smaller question marks above their head. (Tolj) here communicates with himself, but in the context in which he has existed and been acknowledged for over 20 years on several levels – as an author, as a public cultural worker, and as an active protester against social and political deviations. Therefore, Achilles’ heel, albeit his own, here symbolizes a weak spot of society as a whole, embodied through a personal example of a publicly active member of this society. Besides, this symbolism is substantiated in other displayed works that strive to identify and define the precise meeting point between his personality and his public role.

Boris Greiner