Pawlo Dubinin – I Was Bewitched as a Child

The works in the exhibition show a personal story of the relationship with a queer body internally and externally. The artist talks about the absurdity of the whole-body concept and its perception through social and cultural norms. 

Exhibition opening: 6/04/2023 (Thursday), at 9:00 p.m.

Where: Galeria Labirynt, ul. ks. J. Popiełuszki 5, Lublin

Accessibility: The exhibition is held on the ground floor. Quiet hours at the exhibition – Wednesdays 3:00–7:00 p.m. Noise cancelling earmuffs can be borrowed free of charge from the bookstore. In the bookstore you can borrow a wheelchair and earmuffs for free during your stay in the gallery. The gallery has 6 portable induction loops. Opening not interpreted into English.
Exhibition on display: until 07/05/2023 (Tue–Sun, 12:00–7:00 p.m.)
Entrance: PLN 5 (free admission to the exhibition opening)

Curator: Filip Kijowski

The painting series is deeply based on a feeling of difference and not belonging, living as an outsider, when your own organism is treated as defective and strange. They want to observe a coping mechanism of seeing the body as a broken toy-like instrument or something unreal and immaterial, but beautiful in its uniqueness. Finally, why does the closest materia, your own flesh, turn out to be the most difficult puzzle? 

Other relations that came up for the artist during the creative process were puberty, the rejection of genitalia, body dysmorphia. Getting tired of only “classic” male and female figures presenting in art and media, feminine and masculine mix together and disappear altogether on the paintings. 

Pawlo Dubinin (born 2002) is a self-taught artist and painter from Sumy, Ukraine. He is currently studying filmmaking at the I. K. Karpenko-Kary University in Kyiv. In his practice Pawlo mainly works with painting and collages. The main concept of his art is sincere and piercing portrayal of feelings and moments. He mostly draws about queer people, body image, teenage years, magic, occultism, connection to nature and motherhood. The ability to share his views and emotions to other people and them feeling visible and not alone is very important to Pawlo.

The exhibition was created as a result of an artist residency as part of the Azyl Library’s new programme Artist in Residence – Queer Station.

Pavlo Dubinin, untitled, 2023, acrylic and oil paints, coloured pencils