Moscow’s Regina Gallery hosts a show by Pavel Pepperstein’s art collective

White wall with a row of different face drawings in black frames
Russian artist Pavel Pepperstein's conceptual art group Inspection Medical Hermeneutics, launches its latest exhibition, 'The Pipe or The Alley of Longevity' at Moscow's Regina Gallery. Photography: courtesy of Regina Gallery, London & Moscow
(Image credit: Regina Gallery, London & Moscow)

Pavel Pepperstein is not just a man of the brush. The artist, intellectual and founding member of the conceptual art group Inspection Medical Hermeneutics also dabbles in novel-writing, spoken-word poetry (you might call it rap) and even cooking - he concocted a suitably surreal recipe for oatmeal for our Reigning in Russia issue (W* 164), currently on sale.

This month, however, Pepperstein is going with the title 'installation artist'. On Sunday, Moscow's Regina Gallery launches the latest show by the collective, featuring one of their most enduring works, 'The Pipe or The Alley of Longevity'.

The 1995 work by Pepperstein and his colleague Sergei Anufriev centres around a giant horizontal cylinder, inside which is a room scene furnished like a doll's house - the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. It can seem distinctly large and accessible when viewed with the binoculars provided, or microscopic and distant.

Around the perimeter of the space are framed drawings of elderly men, who get even older within each frame, and of young babies, who similarly get younger. The suggestion is that they live outside time, eternally.

The exhibition, which has travelled to galleries across Europe, cuts to the heart of the group's ideas on distance, time and disappearance, and is a departure from Pepperstein's vibrant graphic watercolours, which have earned the artist devotees worldwide.

Giant horizontal cylinder, inside which is a room scene furnished like a doll's house

One of their most enduring installations, the 1995 work by Pepperstein and his colleague Sergei Anufriev, centres around a giant horizontal cylinder, inside which is a room scene furnished like a doll's house

(Image credit: TBC)

Framed drawings of elderly men, who get even older within each frame, and of young babies, who similarly get younger

Around the perimeter of the space are framed drawings of elderly men, who get even older within each frame, and of young babies, who similarly get younger. The suggestion is that they live outside time, eternally

(Image credit: TBC)

Outline drawing of baby face

'2016', from the The Pipe or the Alley of Longevity, by Pavel Pepperstein 1995

(Image credit: TBC)

Outline drawing of baby face with ears

'871014', from The Pipe or the Alley of Longevity, by Pavel Pepperstein, 1995

(Image credit: TBC)

Outline drawing of baby face

'921000000152', from The Pipe or the Alley of Longevity, by Pavel Pepperstein, 1995

(Image credit: TBC)

Outline drawing of an old man's face

'218 years', from The Pipe or the Alley of Longevity, by Pavel Pepperstein, 1995

(Image credit: TBC)

Outline drawing of an old man's face

'64021 years', from The Pipe or the Alley of Longevity, by Pavel Pepperstein 1995

(Image credit: TBC)

Outline drawing of an old man's face

'114000029883 years', from The Pipe or the Alley of Longevity, by Pavel Pepperstein 1995

(Image credit: TBC)

Graphic abstract watercolour painting of man in suit

The exhibition is a departure from Pepperstein's brilliantly coloured graphic watercolours, which have earned the artist devotees worldwide. Pictured, from the gallery's archives, is 'Portrait of Capital', by Pavel Pepperstein, 2008

(Image credit: TBC)

Striped graphic staircase with pram on

'The Birth of Hollywood', by Pavel Pepperstein, 2008

(Image credit: TBC)

Drawing of a black square with spirals at each corner

'The Black Square with Spirals', by Pavel Pepperstein, 2010

(Image credit: TBC)

Striped coloured pattern drawing

'Matryoshka', by Pavel Pepperstein, 2010

(Image credit: TBC)

Painting of a dying gangster against a wall

'The Dying Gangster', by Pavel Pepperstein, 2010

(Image credit: TBC)

Abstract painting of man in battle with fire coming from head

'The last fight of Europe', by Pavel Pepperstein, 2011

(Image credit: TBC)

ADDRESS

Regina Gallery
1, 4th Syromyatnichesky pereulok
105120, Moscow
Russia

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Based in London, Ellen Himelfarb travels widely for her reports on architecture and design. Her words appear in The Times, The Telegraph, The World of Interiors, and The Globe and Mail in her native Canada. She has worked with Wallpaper* since 2006.