● paid artwork
▼ Gymnasium “Pod Hradem”
This intervention in a gymnasium creates a critical environment that raises questions about the education system and the ways in which we understand and process information through critical thinking. Neon lights positioned between pairs of desk lamps represent two opposing viewpoints of equal weight and highlight the impasse of the post-truth era. The desks are arranged in three rows facing each other, revealing the absence of authority — the teacher — and reinforcing a sense of being trapped in a loop where factual accuracy is not guaranteed. This speculative environment comments on a current social issue while seeking a solution within the education system and the institutions that shape it.
Pavol Truben (born 1985) is a visual artist and lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, where he teaches drawing and marketing to artists. He engages with current social issues in his work, approaching them with perspective and a subtle sense of irony. He has realised that he is unable to focus on a single medium. He works comfortably across drawing, printmaking, object-based art, and spatial and light installations.
He has received several awards, including the NOVUM Foundation Award in Slovakia in 2021 and first place in the works on paper category at the Osten Biennial in Skopje in 2025. He was also a finalist for the Celeste Prize in 2013 at the Art Center Ex-Bibli in Rome. He is an active exhibitor, having participated in over 30 exhibitions in Slovakia and more than 40 abroad. In 2025, he presented his work at Vienna Contemporary, represented by Station Gallery. In 2023, he participated in Nuit Blanche in Paris.
