About the work
In 2008, after an unprecedented campaign, one piece of news moved the world: the Democrat Barack Obama would become the 44th president of the United States and move into the White House after becoming the first African-American to do so. "Hope" became the catchiest slogan of Obama's campaign and was omnipresent.
Pepperstein's works from that year show a reflection of the current political circumstances at the time: hope for Obama, the new ambitions of Russia, and the relationship between Russia and America.
About the artist
born 1966 in Moscow - Russia
lives and works in Moscow
Pavel Pepperstein studied at the Academy of Arts in Prague from 1985 to 1987. In 1987 he was a co-founder of the conceptualist artist group "Medical Hermeneutics". Since 1989 Pepperstein has worked as an independent artist, writer, critic, art theorist and rap musician. In 1994 he was a visiting professor at the Städelschule in Frankfurt. Numerous exhibitions including at the Venice Biennale 2009 and Manifesta 10. In 2014 Pepperstein was awarded the Kandinsky Prize in Moscow.
Introduced to the Moscow Conceptualist circle as a child, Pepperstein has been one of the most prolific mythmakers in contemporary Russian art since the beginning of his career. He is an inventor of systems, universes, languages, cities, and political projects, referencing influences as diverse as advertising posters and fairy tales in his paintings. Drawing is the most important medium for Pavel Pepperstein, who also frequently incorporates caligraphy-like writing that either reduces the motif to absurdity or invalidates the viewer's interpretation.