Polina Masevnina (1997, Ryazan, Russia ) is a multidisciplinary visual artist and self-publisher based in the Czech Republic. Her practice navigates the intersections of radical intimacy, post-love narratives, pornographic aesthetics, and raw corporeality, using her own body as both subject and instrument. Rooted in liminality and conflict, her work transcends categorical boundaries, merging conceptual rigor with visceral materiality.
Working at the threshold of text and image, Masevnina manipulates language and visual elements to create minimalist yet conceptually charged objects, often infused with contradictory tensions—between the external and internal, the personal and the political. Her practice is marked by an instinctive, visceral, and ambivalent language, one she describes as violent, intimate, narcissistic, and endlessly open to interpretation.
Working at the threshold of text and image, Masevnina manipulates language and visual elements to create minimalist yet conceptually charged objects, often infused with contradictory tensions—between the external and internal, the personal and the political. Her practice is marked by an instinctive, visceral, and ambivalent language, one she describes as violent, intimate, narcissistic, and endlessly open to interpretation.
Since 2019, she has been developing and publishing her personal photography series in the form of an intimate diary through self-published editions.
SELF-PUBLISHED EDITIONS
absolute love (2019)
nameless faceless shameless (2020)
blurred memories of the touch (2021)
Q’20 (2021)
unspoken letter: letter n1, letter n2 (2022)
escapism as destructive action (2023)
Half Empty (2023)
That could be us (2024)
где дом мой? (2024)
PERSONAL EXHIBITIONS
твои безрассудные тонкие плечи / your subtle reckless shoulders, curator: Karolina Kohoutková
venue: Galerie Umakart , Brno, Czech Republic 27. 06.–04. 09. 2022
venue: Galerie Umakart , Brno, Czech Republic 27. 06.–04. 09. 2022
Unspoken letter n3, Paulina Masevnina and Adam Michálek, curator: Miroslava Urbanová
venue: Galéria Medium, Bratislava, Slovakia, 31. 13.–15. 15. 2022
venue: Galéria Medium, Bratislava, Slovakia, 31. 13.–15. 15. 2022
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Mimicry, Metaphor, Mistake, curator: Venelin Shurelov
Toplocentrala Gallery - Cube, Sofia, Bulgaria 27.06 – 7.07.2024
Toplocentrala Gallery - Cube, Sofia, Bulgaria 27.06 – 7.07.2024
SPOOKY HOUSE - Night of Queer Interventions, curators: Voin de Voin and Michaela Lakova
Rotterdam, Netherlands 03.08.2024
Rotterdam, Netherlands 03.08.2024
You must entertain!, curators: Adam Michálek and Michal Mitro
BOBy Centrum, Brno, Czech Republic 19.07.2024
BOBy Centrum, Brno, Czech Republic 19.07.2024
SPORNO festival, curators: Voin de Voin and Michaela Lakova
Sofia, Bulgaria 25. 06.–30. 06. 2024
Sofia, Bulgaria 25. 06.–30. 06. 2024
Sofia Underground Performance Festival, curators: Studio DauHaus and Synaesthesia Collective
OKI Krasno Selo, Sofia, Bulgaria 24. 04.–28. 04. 2024
OKI Krasno Selo, Sofia, Bulgaria 24. 04.–28. 04. 2024
Ode Nie Tamo, curator: art group drugo mesto
Drugo Mesto, Belgrade, Serbia, 17. 04.–05. 05. 2024
Drugo Mesto, Belgrade, Serbia, 17. 04.–05. 05. 2024
Darwin was my first crush, curators: Neprho Studio and Adam Michálek
Photogether gallery, Zlin, Czech Republic 13. 09.–13. 10. 2023
Photogether gallery, Zlin, Czech Republic 13. 09.–13. 10. 2023
Ja sam ranjivost, curators: Nu Simakina, Kota Davudova
Bienale of Youth, Belgrade, Serbia 05. 09.–01. 10. 2023
Bienale of Youth, Belgrade, Serbia 05. 09.–01. 10. 2023
Through my eyes to your mouth
"Liquid Queer Memoria" project, curator: Jitka Hlavačková
Troja Palace, Prague, Czech Republic 22.8.2023
"Liquid Queer Memoria" project, curator: Jitka Hlavačková
Troja Palace, Prague, Czech Republic 22.8.2023
Casting
Festival of the naked forms, curator: Lenka Klodova
Altenburg, Prague, Czech Republic 9.9-11.9. 2022
Festival of the naked forms, curator: Lenka Klodova
Altenburg, Prague, Czech Republic 9.9-11.9. 2022
Make porn not war
Y: NORMAL BODIES, curators: Anna Chrtková & Petr Dlouhý
Divadlo X10 , Prague, Czech Republic 18. 4. 2022
Y: NORMAL BODIES, curators: Anna Chrtková & Petr Dlouhý
Divadlo X10 , Prague, Czech Republic 18. 4. 2022
Photography in the context of domestic violence
exhibition by FFA BUT and Magdalenium, curator: Krystina Kolářová
Místodržitelský palác , Brno, Czech Republic 3. 12.–27. 12. 2021
exhibition by FFA BUT and Magdalenium, curator: Krystina Kolářová
Místodržitelský palác , Brno, Czech Republic 3. 12.–27. 12. 2021
BACTIHUB+
exhibition by Nephro Studio, curator: Denis Baštuga & Nephro Studio
4.09.2021, 18:00–19:00, NTK Gallery, Prague Biennale Projekt 2021: RE–CONNECT ART
exhibition by Nephro Studio, curator: Denis Baštuga & Nephro Studio
4.09.2021, 18:00–19:00, NTK Gallery, Prague Biennale Projekt 2021: RE–CONNECT ART
Do It Your Way
exhibition by Body Design Studio of FFA BUT, curator: Lenka Klodová
Body Design Studio, FFA BUT, Brno, Czech Republic 19. 11.–21. 12. 2019
exhibition by Body Design Studio of FFA BUT, curator: Lenka Klodová
Body Design Studio, FFA BUT, Brno, Czech Republic 19. 11.–21. 12. 2019
Day Off: Final Downcycling
Exhibition the Intermedia Studio of FFA BUT curator: Miroslav Macík
Rainbow Gallery, Prostějov, Czech Republic 8. 3.–8. 4. 2019
Exhibition the Intermedia Studio of FFA BUT curator: Miroslav Macík
Rainbow Gallery, Prostějov, Czech Republic 8. 3.–8. 4. 2019
Afraid of Virginia
Jelizaveta Kazanceva venue: BEPX, Minsk, Belarus 13.10- 16.10. 2017
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
Footnote Centre for Image and Text - Artist Residency, May 2024 Belgrade, Serbia
Footnote Centre for Image and Text - Artist Residency, March 2023 Belgrade, Serbia
PRESS
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
NAKID MAGAZINE , BOOOOOOOM MAGAZINE , GLOW PROJECT , TOKSIC MAGAZINE , NOT BASIC MAGAZINE, No1 Gender Issue , REKT MAGAZINE , PAP MAGAZINE , CONTRIBUTOR MAGAZINE , CAKE MAGAZINE , BADSEEDZINE , WUL MAGAZINE , THE FLOW HOUSE MAGAZINE ,C-HEADS MAGAZINE, PORNCEPTUAL