“Pavlensky was born in 1984 in Saint Petersburg. Became renowned for his political action in support of a Russian punk group «p*ssy Riot». On July 23 of 2012 the artist came to Kazan Cathedral, St. Petersburg with his mouth sewn up with a coarse thread, holding a banner reading: “Action of p*ssy Riot was a replica of the famous action of Jesus Christ (Matthew.21:12–13)”. The police called an ambulance, which took Pavlensky for a psychiatric examination, but the psychiatrist declared him sane and released shortly after the incident. Later, Pavlensky made an additional comment about his action: “By suturing my mouth in front of the Kazan Cathedral, I wanted to show position of the artist in contemporary Russia: a ban on publicity. I am sickened by intimidation of society, mass paranoia, which manifestations I see everywhere”.

On May 3, 2013 Pavlensky held a political protest action against repressive policies of the government. His art performance was called Carcass. Artist's assistants brought him naked and wrapped in a multilayered cocoon of barbed wire to the main entrance of the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg. The artist remained silent laying still in a half-bent position inside the cocoon and did not react to the actions of others, until he was released by the police with the help of the garden clippers. In her interview to Radio Liberty, Pavlensky's colleague Oksana Shalygina mentioned that a metaphor of the action had its immediate realization in the reality: as soon as the barbed wire was cut off, and the artist was freed from it, “the same exact wire wrapped him back in as police, ambulance and numerous field investigators”.

On November 10 of 2013, while sitting naked on the stone pavement in front of the Lenin's Mausoleum on the Red Square, Moscow, Pavlensky hammered a large nail through his scrotum affixing it to the stone pavement. His action coincides with the annual Russian Police Day. When the police arrived, they covered him with a blanket and later arrested him. “A naked artist, looking at his testicles nailed to the cobblestone is a metaphor of apathy, political indifference, and fatalism of Russian society”, declared Pavlensky in his statement to the media.

On 19 October 2014 Pavlensky cut his ear while sitting naked on the roof of the infamous Serbsky Center in protest against political abuse of psychiatry in Russia”. – Wikipedia

Artist Pyotr Pavlensky sits on the wall enclosing the Serbsky State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry after he cut off a part of his earlobe during his protest action titled “Segregation” in Moscow October 19, 2014. Pavlensky protested against the usage of forensic psychiatry for politically motivated purposes. He cut off his earlobe to demonstrate how authorities could “cut off” an unwanted individual from society by using psychiatric and medical diagnosis to forcefully send a person to a penitentiary hospital, according to Pavlensky. (Photo by Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)

Artist Pyotr Pavlensky cuts off a part of his earlobe while sitting on the wall enclosing the Serbsky State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry during his protest action titled “Segregation” in Moscow October 19, 2014. (Photo by Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)

Interior Ministry members detain artist Pyotr Pavlensky after he cut off a part of his earlobe while sitting on the wall enclosing the Serbsky State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry during his protest action titled “Segregation” in Moscow October 19, 2014. (Photo by Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)

Artist Pyotr Pavlensky sits on the pavestones of Red Square during a protest action in front of the Kremlin wall in central Moscow November 10, 2013. (Photo by Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)

Artist Pyotr Pavlensky sits on the pavestones of Red Square during a protest action in front of the Kremlin wall in central Moscow November 10, 2013. (Photo by Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)

Artist Pyotr Pavlensky sits on the pavestones of Red Square during a protest action in front of the Kremlin wall in central Moscow November 10, 2013. (Photo by Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)

Artist Pyotr Pavlensky lies on the ground, wrapped in barbed wire roll, during a protest action in St. Petersburg May 3, 2013. Nude Pavlensky took part in a protest art action in front the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg headquarters aiming to express his view that the legislative system of the city is oppressive, according to local media. (Photo by Artur Bainozarov/Reuters)

Artist Pyotr Pavlensky lies on the ground, wrapped in barbed wire roll, during a protest action in St. Petersburg May 3, 2013. (Photo by Artur Bainozarov/Reuters)

Artist Pyotr Pavlensky lies on the ground, wrapped in barbed wire roll, during a protest action in St. Petersburg May 3, 2013. (Photo by Artur Bainozarov/Reuters)

Artist Pyotr Pavlensky lies on the ground, wrapped in barbed wire roll, during a protest action in St. Petersburg May 3, 2013. (Photo by Artur Bainozarov/Reuters)

Artist Pyotr Pavlensky, a supporter of jailed members of female punk band “p*ssy Riot”, looks on with his mouth sewed up as he protests outside the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, July 23, 2012. A court on Monday rejected a request to call President Vladimir Putin and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to testify in the trial of three female punk rockers who derided Putin in a protest in the country's main cathedral, their lawyer said. (Photo by Reuters/Trend Photo Agency)

Artist Pyotr Pavlensky holds a board in support of jailed members of female punk band “p*ssy Riot” with his mouth sewn shut during a protest in St. Petersburg, July 23, 2012. (Photo by Reuters/Trend Photo Agency)