BRUTALITY

An installation of seven objects of varying sizes, made of concrete, porcelain plates, cups and teapots, acrylic paint, and epoxy resin, arranged on top of a Persian carpet. 2025.

Part of Balkan Stories, solo exhibition at Doza Gallery, curated by Georgi P. Pavlov.

Brutality is a layered installation that explores the matter of cultural appropriation and the lack of functioning metaphysics in contemporary society. Its base is a carpet that is both a mark of Western sophistication and Balkan domesticity, while originating from the East. The concrete blocks refer to both Western Brutalism and Soviet architecture, represent the disintegration of the grand narratives after the Second World War. In contrast, the fine porcelain, together with the carpet, are nods to a past that is often idealised, romanticised, and weaponised, usually with some political goal aimed at seizing control of the present and the future.

Photos of works by Kalin Serapionov.