Jugend: Vision eines glücklichen Lebens

Illia Vdovkin has only been living in Munich for a few months. His time in Ukraine was characterized by hard work and queer hostility. In Germany, he wants to start all over again. His vision of a happy life is shown in the exhibition "Youth", which Munich Kyiv Queer is presenting at the gay-queer center Sub from April 1. The artist himself will be attending the opening.

In Ukraine, Illia dreamed of becoming a fashion designer, but circumstances turned him into a welder. The homophobia he experienced as a queer youth in his workplace broke him. He began to hate himself for his homosexuality.

In 2025, Illia fled to Germany to escape the war. Here he made many queer friends who helped him to start over and live his dream of art. "Germany feels like home to me, not like Ukraine, where I only have bad memories." He dreams of establishing himself as an artist and fashion designer. "That has been my dream since childhood."

He is now presenting his works to the public for the very first time. In the exhibition "Youth", which consists of twelve digital drawings, the now 18-year-old describes how he sees love between young men.

His pictures appear romantic and innocent, but behind every motif is a deep longing for the snapshots of happiness that lovers share in everyday life. Illia says: "Our love is not a perversion, but an expression of our humanity. We should all be allowed to strive for that."

Illia taught himself to draw in his youth, without art school, all by himself. With Procreate, the works on the iPad are created entirely from his head, without templates. Sometimes he uses backgrounds to better understand the perspective, but basically he draws everything himself.