Conceived in close collaboration with the artist, the exhibition you & me brings together a group of works by Susana Mendes Silva (Lisbon, Portugal, 1972) in deposit in the Serralves Collection and works from the artist’s collection, covering her artistic career from the 1990s to today. Susana Mendes Silva’s practice is developed around drawing, performance, archival work and, above all, around encounters — with the public, with space, with history, and with her peers. Her work is based on subtle transformations of what surrounds us, minimal gestures that subvert rules and social codes. With irreverence and humour, the artist relates intimacy and violence, body and language, sexuality and liberation.

Drawing from the relational dimension of her practice, this exhibition goes beyond the conventional definition of a solo show and presents the work of Susana Mendes Silva in dialogue with the work of Portuguese and international artists who stand out as important references in her creative and affective universe, such as Ana Hatherly, Dara Birnbaum, Maria José Aguiar and Yoko Ono.

Integrating sculpture, drawing, video, photography, and installation, as well as works of a performative, participatory and documental nature, the exhibition reveals different approaches to the topics explored by Susana Mendes Silva and by the constellation of artists she draws around herself. The spoken and written word, poetry and literature, confession and manifesto gain a particular expression in this exhibition as it reveals the importance of freedom and celebration in the artist's work, proposing intersections with the main themes explored in the context of the 25th edition of Correntes d'Escritas.

This exhibition, curated by Joana Valsassina, is part of the Touring Exhibitions Programme of the Serralves Collection, which aims to make the Foundation’s collection accessible to different audiences across the country.

Production: Fundação de Serralves — Museu de Arte Contemporânea, Porto