Gazelli Art House is pleased to present Decorative Sacredness, the first solo show of Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich that will explore his performance based practice over the past ten years. Marking his return to London after a decade, the exhibition comprises photographic and video installations as well as a series of new sculptural works. Decorative Sacredness reveals the artist’s critical examination of modern slavery and is a timely artistic intervention amidst the ongoing discussions on the unknown scale of the criminal practice in the UK and internationally.

Bringing together two distinct strands of the artist’s work, Decorative Sacredness takes its title cue from the new series Small Heroic Sculptures, where five sculptural pieces aim to capture and condense the essence of one performance piece each into a physical object. The seemingly oxymoronic nature of this project – translating time-based forms of expression into intransigent physical works – raises important questions about the interaction between the artist’s work and the viewer. Presenting themselves with beguiling decorativeness on the surface, upon closer scrutiny the intricately sculpted works draw the spectator into a game of discovery, using the profane as a prop to lure the eye from the surface towards the sacred.

Organised around the allegorical number of seven, Pavlov-Andreevich’s series of video works Temporary Monuments correspond to seven episodes of suffering of Brazilian slaves, both alluding to the historical past and those recorded in more recent times. Each of the episodes recorded by the artist is an iteration of the eternal attempt to break the chains of slavery, – or at least to raise critical awareness by acknowledging it out loud. Connecting with the practice of American artist Paul Thek, Temporary Monuments will be installed as frames inside plywood boxes along the walls, mounted above small chairs to kneel on, and only accessible by entering the head through an opening in the viewing box. This mode of presentation requires the viewer to take an interactive stance and to engage on a more personal level by opening up to an intimate and up-close encounter with the minute screens.

The exhibition concludes with large-scale, limited edition photographic installations that share the common themes introduced by the seven Temporary Monuments.

‘We are incredibly excited to show Fyodor’s comprehensive body of work produced over the past decade and to introduce his latest series, the Small Heroes Sculptures,’ said the Founder and CEO of Gazelli Art House, Mila Askarova.