Bees and ladybugs, roosters, cats, flowers - and again and again naked boys who confidently and mysteriously return the gaze of their viewers. At first glance, the paintings by Andrej Dúbravský (* 1987 in Nove Zamky, Slovakia) look like paradisiacal scenes. No wonder, as most of them are created in the midst of idyllic nature, in a studio in the countryside near Bratislava. Dúbravský, already one of Slovakia's most famous and internationally successful artists, not only paints there, but also grows vegetables, keeps chickens and entertains friends and guests who have come a long way to visit him in his magnificently blooming garden. The soil, which is one of the most fertile in Europe, provides ample nourishment for ever new motifs, which Dúbravský captures in his typical, seemingly washed-out painting style. They seem like dream images or the echo of summer memories. At the same time, they echo the fragility of the natural balance in which humans and animals live. Even the artist's paradisiacal garden is constantly threatened by the pesticides sprayed on the neighboring properties.

In addition to biodiversity, Dúbravský also advocates diversity within and outside the queer community. He counters the still prevalent ideal image of the athletic or slim gay man with the sexual attraction of fat bodies. Men with round bellies, young and old, come into tender contact with figures that can easily be interpreted as the artist's alter egos. Dúbravský's work is offensive - especially in his conservative homeland, where his paintings have already caused a real scandal - but the painter is only drawing attention to his artistic role models such as Lucian Freud, Jenny Saville and Rubens, who also portrayed bodies beyond today's beauty trends. Full of emotionality and sensuality, Dúbravský's pictures convey an attitude to life that is characterized by openness, hospitality and a very natural sex appeal.

Image: Best friends for 55 days, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 45 x 40 cm, courtesy DITTRICH & SCHLECHTRIEM, Berlin