Pavel Pepperstein

Rapper, novelist, and painter Pavel Pepperstein merges fantastical scenes and landscapes with a range of cultural and political symbols in his witty surrealistic watercolors. Influenced by the preceding generation of Moscow Conceptualists, Pepperstein creates work deeply entwined with history and literature, replete with fantasy themes and fairy tale characters burdened with dark historical associations: quaint flowers overwhelm a swastika, or an elegant Chinese dragon battles a World War II soldier. A critic once described Pepperstein’s practice like a “theoretical family conversation,” one that deals fleetingly with existential themes with a sense of whimsy and the visual language of children’s books.