Stay Gold, 2025

Queeny Rebel Empire

Recycled latex and acrylic on wood
2.9 ft x 2.8 ft
Edition 1/1 original
Unframed
Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist, Toronto
Includes delivery and installation within the Toronto area

In Stay Gold, Queeny renders a surreal pastoral scene turned sideways—swans soar overhead, serene and weightless, while children below raise rifles with ghostlike resolve. A white goose stands watch on a mound of eggs, perhaps unaware of the looming threat or fully at peace within it. Against fields of technicolor corn and a violet sky, Queeny critiques cycles of innocence and violence, and how quickly reverence for life can give way to control. The title echoes S.E. Hinton’s immortal line—a call to preserve purity in the face of corruption.

About The Artist

Queeny Rebel Empire is the alter ego of Toronto artist Ursula Queeny Krubnik—a painter, graffiti alum, and self-described “visual sociologist” whose work radiates defiance, joy, and deep-rooted feminine power. Raised by Eastern Bloc immigrants and shaped by the underground art scene of the late ’80s and ’90s, Queeny merges raw grit with playful mysticism. Her paintings—often built on salvaged materials—are ecstatic, story-rich worlds of bright color, divine feminine energy, and found-object alchemy. With The Green Contemporaries (April 25–June 23, 2025), Mania proudly presents our first solo show by a female artist—an artist whose work doesn’t just speak to rebellion, but paints it in full bloom.