Join us on Thursday 20 October for an artist talk by Pavel Otdelnov. Otdelnov will share the story behind his exhibition Acting Out, currently on view at Pushkin House, and delve deeper into the development of his artistic practice over the course of the past twenty years. Acting Out elaborates on the themes of Soviet industrial legacy, the history of the Cold War and recent political events – all typical of the artist’s oeuvre. Profoundly affected by the Russian invasion in Ukraine, Otdelnov reflects on the resentment and toxic nostalgia permeating contemporary Russian politics.
Pavel Otdelnov was born in the industrial town of Dzerzhinsk and initially studied academic painting in Nizhny Novgorod. His graduate project explored the traumas of the First Chechen War and he later continued his education at the Surikov Moscow State Academy Art Institute. He joined the workshop of one of the leaders of the “Severe Style”, Pavel Nikonov, who taught him how to bring together complex pictorial structures and intense emotional effects.
In his works Otdelnov often depicts industrial ruins, connecting them to personal histories and collective traumas of the Soviet past. He relates the modernist understanding of progress with the reality of failed socialist utopias that disregarded individual well-being. The artist combines profound archival research with elaborate formal experiments, creating unsettling images and complex narratives that reframe our perception of history.
In this illustrated talk Otdelnov will present an overview of his oeuvre, the artistic influences that shaped his understanding of art as well as the values and approaches that lie at the heart of his practice.