As one of the most significant positions in thenext generation of Moscow Conceptualism –after Ilya Kabakov, Erik Bulatov, and DmitriPrigov – Pavel Pepperstein is a leading artisticfigure and a renowned author in Russia.Since 2008, Pepperstein has been creatingillustrations for the short stories that hehas penned under the title The Secret ofOur Time. Consisting of 30 ink drawings inhis characteristic eclectic manner, theseillustrations give insight into Pepperstein’sfantastic world that combines elements ofRussian cultural legacy with present-dayimages and visions of the future. His ironicand nostalgic, comic-like illustrations, in whichhe cites the aesthetics of Suprematism andConstructivism, are hybrids of children’s talesand epic sagas. A product of Pepperstein’svivid imagination, the short stories often makereference to Russian-American topics, suchas the competitive space race of the Cold War,the three world religions, and abstractionversus figuration.
