This Russian artist wants your blood. Literally

One of Russia’s best-known contemporary artists is asking art lovers to donate their blood for an exhibition of radical political art.

Andrei Molodkin’s heart-stopping art installation, known as Young Blood, will appear at BLACK HORIZON— a joint exhibition from London non-profit a/political and Belgium’s BPS22 gallery space in Charleroi — in a show exploring the physical power of words and propaganda.

Hollow containers, shaped to include phrases linked to subversive Russian subcultures, will be filled with litres of blood using industrial compressor pumps via medical refrigerators. Each work will be filmed and projected again onto the walls of the gallery in real time, submerging visitors in Molodkin’s work. Other visitors will be able to take their appreciation of art one step further — by donating their blood to the exhibition itself.

More squeamish viewers will also be able to visit new work by iconic Russian artist Erik Bulatov. His piece — НАСРАТЬ, or “to shit on” in Russian — uses his trademark typography, monumental canvases, and the illusion of depth in an attempt to move and unsettle guests.

BLACK HORIZON will run at BPS22 gallery space in Charleroi between 9 February and 19 May. For more information, click here.