I am Denys Metelin, an artist born in Crimea. After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, I moved to Lviv, where I continued my studies and creative work. I started with graffiti in my teenage years and eventually expanded into painting, graphics, murals, and installations. In my works, I try to speak about what shapes me and my generation: the loss of home, war, the post-Soviet legacy, and the search for identity in a constantly changing world. For me, art is a way to preserve memory, to live through pain, and to transform it into an image that can touch others. In recent years, I have been increasingly focusing on painting, drawing places that are significant to me.

I was born and raised in Crimea.

Since 2008, I began working with graffiti. My passion for street art grew into something more than just a hobby. Back in Crimea, I created several murals.

In March 2014, I was forced to move to Lviv due to the annexation of Crimea, where I continued my studies and artistic practice. Since 2016, I have been a resident of the art association “Farbovaniy Lys”. I have taken part in many exhibitions and have a strong interest in architecture and urban studies.

In the pre-war period, one of my major projects was "Zhytiepys" (2019–2020), in which I expressed my thoughts and experiences regarding the annexation of Crimea by russia. This project became an autobiographical narrative, a comic, and an icon. Another important work was the project "Decommunization" (2021–2022), where I explored the theme of Ukraine’s postcolonial existence and the individual within it.

During russia’s full-scale invasion, many of my works became statements on the theme of war, with the main goal of supporting people’s fighting spirit and strengthening their determination. Since the beginning of autumn 2022, I was actively involved in the volunteer art project mystetstvo_ua.

In 2023, I was mobilized into the army, and to this day I serve in Ukraine’s defense forces. Despite the lack of time and the ability to paint fully, I continue to pursue art.

Education

• 2018–2020 — Master’s Degree, Faculty of Arts, University of Opole
• 2017–2019 — Master’s Degree, Ukrainian Academy of Printing, "Design"
• 2015–2017 — Bachelor’s Degree, Trush Lviv College of Decorative and Applied Arts, "Monumental Painting"
• 2014–2015 — Trush Lviv College of Decorative and Applied Arts, specialization in "Art Painting" (Diploma with Honors)
• 2011–2014 — Samokysh Crimean Art College, specialization in "Easel Painting"
• 2015–2018 — Certificate Program in Icon Painting, Ukrainian Catholic University

Projects and exhibitions

• 2022 — Participant of the online exhibition Taiwan Annual online (Taiwan)
• 2022 — Participant of STRONGER THAN ARMS' Ukrainian Art Exhibition at @bsmtspace (London)
• 2022 — Participant of the joint exhibition "Sum" in Vaund (Stuttgart, Germany)
  2022 — Participant of the joint exhibition at the Artuscoart gallery “BE BRAVE Charitable Art Show” (USA, Texas)
• 2022 — Participant of the joint exhibition "Muses are not silent" exhibition curator Pavlo Gudimov (Powder Tower, Lviv, Ukraine)
• 2022 — Participant of the joint exhibition Uart + The art of peace (Houston, TX, USA)
• 2022 — Participant of the joint exhibition "Artfront" project of the gallery Dzyga
• 2022 — Participant of a joint exhibition at the One art space gallery (NY USA)
• 2022 — Participant in the joint exhibition "Ukrainian Collage" at the Khmelnytsky Regional Art Museum
• 2021 — Exposition of the project "Decommunization" (Art Center Dzyga, Apartment 35, Lviv, Ukraine)
• 2021 — Created murals "Decommunization" in gallery 4 8 (Lutsk, Ukraine)
• 2021 — Created the installation "Perekotypole" within the project "Steppe" project curator Volodymyr Kaufman (Gonchar Museum Kyiv, Ukraine)
• 2021 — Painted a bus within the festival "Avantard" X "Alarm" (Palace of Arts, Lviv)
• 2021 — Participation in the street art festival "Alarm" (Slavsko, Ukraine)
• 2021 — Joint exhibition "Stereotype" in Ukrainian house (Kyiv, Ukraine)
• 2021 — Joint exhibition in Porokhova vezha (Lviv, Ukraine)
• 2021 — project "Decommunization" (personal exhibition) Museum of Contemporary Ukrainian Art Korsakiv (Lutsk, Ukraine)
• 2020 — Installation in the Dzyga Gallery within the Avangard Festival (Lviv, Ukraine)
• 2020 — Mural at the Lviv Street Gallery within the project Equilibrium
• 2020 — 10*4-meter canvas for the Museum of Contemporary Ukrainian Art Korsakіv (Lutsk, Ukraine)
• 2020 — Biography project in Dzyga Gallery (Lviv, Ukraine)
• 2020 - 2019 - 2018 - 2017 — participation in the graffiti festival Alarm (Lviv, Lutsk, Odessa, Ukraine)
• 2020 — Joint exhibition in the Street gallery Injection (Lviv, Ukraine)
• 2019 — Participation in the project To be ruined the art of transition Jam factory/Farbovanyi lys (Lviv, Ukraine)
• 2019 — Biography project within the framework of the II Biennial of Young Art (Kharkiv, Ukraine)
• 2019 — Joint exhibition Transfer przestrzeni Aneks Gallery (Opole, Poland)
• 2019 — Joint exhibition Illustragan galleria MBP (Opole, Poland)
• 2019 — Personal exhibition Biography, 48 gallery (Lutsk, Ukraine)
• 2019 — Participant of the joint exhibition (P)Arty Hard (Wroclaw, Poland)
• 2019 — Personal exhibition Biography in A4 gallery (Opole, Poland)
• 2019 — Created an animated film 2027 (Lviv, Ukraine)
• 2018 — Curator of the art residence in Zhovkva (Ukraine)
• 2018 — Cube project in Zhovkva Castle (Ukraine)
• 2018 — Personal exhibition Lost Paradise in Bunkermuse Gallery (Ternopil, Ukraine)
• 2018 — Project within the Workshop of the City Street-art on electric transport (Lviv)
• 2017 — Labyrinth project at the Rema factory with Nestor Lisovsky (Lviv, Ukraine)
• 2017 — Personal exhibition Lost Paradise in the gallery Farbovanyi Lys (Lviv, Ukraine)
• 2017 — Mural New Life for a tram stop as part of the City Workshop (Lviv, Ukraine)
• 2016 — Resident of the gallery Farbovanyi lys (Lviv, Ukraine)
• 2016 — Gallery under the bridge mural triptychs Saints (Lviv, Ukraine)
• 2016 — Mural Lost Elysium in Lviv Street Gallery (Ukraine)
• 2016 — Mural in the Lesya Ukrainka Theater as part of the Lesya Theater residence (Lviv, Ukraine)
• 2016 — Resident of Galicia Cult - wall painting at the Turbo Atom plant (Kharkiv, Ukraine)
• 2016 — Participation in the joint exhibition Street Alphabet (Lviv, Kyiv, Odessa, Lutsk…)

Works are in personal collections in Ukraine, the USA, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden. Also in the Korsaks Museum of Contemporary Ukrainian Art.