Justice Mukheli
In his work, Mukheli is interested in capturing children in their moment of quietness. This interest was born out of his own retrospection, having grown up in the township of Soweto, Johannesburg. He had several character defining moments as a young boy and was constantly faced with statements such as, “Do not cry, you are a man and men don’t cry!”, “Don’t be week”, “Fix your face”, “Why are you sad”. He created his works from a place of attempting to capture some of the feelings and emotions that he was told not to express. These images became an index of spaces of possibility. To Mukheli, there is a golden thread that runs through each subject’s captivating gaze, glowing skin and uninhibited interaction with his lens. This thread points towards an answer, a solution or a guide book. He feels that he can be vulnerable openly as a man with no shame, and through these subjects he is reclaiming the emotions that he had to hold in as a young boy who was stopped from crying, being sad, or vulnerable, because “Boys don’t cry”.
Group Exhibition
2019 An Estoteric Voyage Through Ecstasy , Redd Gallery, Chaniá, Greece .
Solo Exhibition
2018 Through Their Eyes , Daville Baille Gallery, Johannesburg
Art Fairs
2019 Also Known as Africa , Art Fair, Paris, represented by Dyman Gallery.
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