Night swiming, 2011 / acrylic on canvas / 130 x 190 cm
Followers, 2012 / acrylic on canvas / 190 x 130 cm
What will you do on Saturday, 2011 / acrylic on canvas / 100 x 80 cm
Last camp fire, 2012 / acrylic on canvas / 160 x 120 cm
The gentleman with his hand on his chest, 2011-12 / acrylic on canvas / 100 x 80 cm
Vanitas, 2011 / acrylic on canvas / 24 x 18 cm
Boy in hat (sophisticated), 2011-12 / acrylic on canvas / 40 x 30 cm
Boy in hat (no ears), 2011 / acrylic on canvas / 70 x 50 cm
Boy in hat (too young), 2011-12 / acrylic on canvas / 50 x 40 cm
4, 2011 / acrylic on canvas / 130 x 190 cm
Murky wood, 2012 / acrylic on canvas / 190 x 130 cm
Sacrifice, 2011 / acrylic on canvas / 100 x 80 cm
What`s happenig with me, 2010 / acrylic and oil on canvas / 140 x 120 cm
Autumn is approaching, 2010 / acrylic, varnish and oil on canvas / 200 x 150 cm
Twin city liner, 2010 / acrylic and oil on canvas / 190 x 130 cm
A little bit of pain, 2011 / acrylic and oil on canvas / 200 x 150 cm
from the series Heroes, Ondrej, 2010 / acrylic and oil on canvas / 160 x 130 cm
Sticky bunny, 2010 / acrylic, varnish and oil on canvas / 200 x 150 cm
The awakening of bunny, 2011 / acrylic and oil on canvas / 200 x 150 cm
Miroslav on the bike 2 / 2010 acrylic, warnish and oil on canvas / 120 x 140 cm
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Andrej Dubravsky, born 1987 in Slovakia, represents the very young scene of the former socialist country. Gathering experience as sculptor, he graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava and is now mostly working in painting. Formally rather conventional, his paintings are dominated by unorthodox themes like self-gratification, homosexuality or intergenerational relationships. Taking his inspiration from old masters and actual social issues, his artistic gesture is subordinated to the acute need to find the right expression for the variety of feelings and (bittersweet) self-experiences of growing up.
Mainly centered on the male body, his artistic interests match with the up-to-date rules of popular culture: narcissistic self-presentation and inquiries of the own identity. This is somehow similar to Cindy Sherman’s masquerade, but with different intentions. Dubravsky’s ultimate fetish is the bunny-mask, which he (in contrast to Sherman) applies to a variety of portrayed persons, integrating them this way into his own world, which is dominated by the principle of pleasure and pain. Inspired by the myths of gay subculture, his playful bunny-dreaming transcends into a personal symbol, that makes each of his paintings complete. The bunny archetype is crucial to his work; becoming increasingly dominant, it takes a central position in the artist’s self-projection process, which transforms each of his paintings into a sort of self-portrait.
Using the visual language of sexual minorities, Dubravksy tries to seduce the viewer into an intimate relationship. With his paintings, he invites to a friendly journey into an unknown land, changing the visitor into a voyeur. Once caught in the mousetrap, one cannot avoid the variety of layers, which are deeply immanent to Dubravsky’s work. From this point of view, the content of his paintings can be understood as both; a metaphor for sexual awaking and glorification of the youth, or just as a simple image of someones (secret) everyday life. In both cases Dubravsky’s “private show” introduces the general discourse of male identity and male sexuality to a wider audience.