ROME.- At the age of thirteen, Pavel Pepperstein (then still Pavel Pivovarov) read Thomas Mann’s novel The Magic Mountain. He was enchanted by this novel, imbued, in Thomas Mann’s own words, with “hermetic pedagogy”. One of its characters, Pieter Peeperkorn, inspired the young reader to invent a pseudonym — Pepperstein. From that time on, while remaining Pavel Pivovarov in everyday life, he began to appear in the realms of art and literature as Pavel Pepperstein.

The exhibition features early graphic works by the artist, including those created even before the invention of the pseudonym. Altogether, the works on display cover a wide span of Pepperstein’s life and creative path: from 1978 to the present day.

In 1987, Pepperstein became one of the three founders of the group Inspection Medical Hermeneutics (1987–2001). For the group’s exhibition at Shedhalle (Zurich, 1992), the members produced a series of staged photographs taken at the Schadzalp Hotel in Davos. Formerly a sanatorium, this hotel is believed to have been the prototype for the Berghof Sanatorium described by Thomas Mann in The Magic Mountain. These photographs will be included in the exhibition as accompanying documentary material. Photographers: Bruno Mancia, Franziska Bodmer.

Pavel Pepperstein (born in 1966 in Moscow) is one of the most prominent figures of the contemporary Russian art scene. Raised in an artistic environment by his parents, poet Irina Pivovarova and painter Viktor Pivovarov, Pepperstein embodies a rare versatility. Winner of the Kandinsky Prize in 2014 and nominated for the Guerlain Prize in 2015, he works as a novelist, draftsman, painter, and rapper, giving his practice a singular character.

In the late 1980s, at the dawn of contemporary art in Russia, Pepperstein, together with Sergei Anufriev and Yuri Leiderman, founded the group Medical Hermeneutics Inspection (MH), a phenomenon that marked a crucial stage in the development of Moscow Romantic Conceptualism. In an artistic landscape where echoes of the 20th century are increasingly rare, the legacy of Medical Hermeneutics allowed his psychedelic realism to continue evolving.

Each new project by Pepperstein, whether drawings, installations, or paintings — draws on an innovative poetic synthesis of the visual and the verbal, first developed more than a quarter of a century ago.

The artist has held more than one hundred exhibitions in Russia and abroad, such as his solo show in France, Pavel Pepperstein: The Cold Center of the Sun, presented in 2015 at the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint-Étienne. His participation in major art events such as the São Paulo Biennial in 2004, the Venice Biennale in 2009, and Manifesta 10 in St. Petersburg in 2014 attests to his recognition on the international art scene.

Pepperstein is also the author of the novel Prague Night Rouge, published in France in 2018. His works are held in prestigious collections including the Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Fondation Guerlain, the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow; the Russian Museum, St.Petersburg; the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf and the Albertina Museum, Vienna.