PAVEL PETEL R.I.P.

Word reached us only in the first phase of lockdown of the pandemic in 2021 that tragically Pavel Petel had died tragically in a car accident the previous April. It was very hard to believe that a man with Pavel's virility, humor and passion for life went, just like that. This bad news was very hard to digest under the first shock of the pandemic and hence this small hommage to an extraordinary man comes extremely overdue yet necessary for me personally as the founder of Esculpta.

Pavel was an eccentric persona (err an understatement) which I discovered on an internet quite different and more 'innocent' to what it is today back in about 2010 or 2011. He had all the merits to be a model but instead he was a performance artist. The 'Naked DJ' was the gig that excited and caught the imagination of crowds in the disco stage of Moscow which seemed to be kicking at the time. What grabbed my attention instantly was of the aloof roller-girl pushing the supermarket trolley left me speechless with just one thought.. "Total Genius!". The image had gone 'viral' on a brand-new tiny platform called reddit.

It was apparent to me that there was something certainly genius in him. I immediately emailed him to see if he would be interested in collaborating with Esculpta and as he couldn't speak a word of English, his manager and make-up artist Sergey Ostrikov replied that they would be thrilled to work with us. That was amazing!! The extraordinary star from Russia had said YES and we were absolutely thrilled! I could not have been prouder to collaborate with this person who's cheekiness, naughtyness and highly refined boldness made him a star in his own right. Maybe we had a lot in common. There was after all in my eyes a sense of artistic decency prevailent beyond just 'shock value'. Also the persuasion that provocation is fun when it is pure from vulgarity and the belief that there is more shame to be found in social hypocrisy than in nudity itself.

Back in 2010 the road was all uphill for Esculpta because potential collaborators could not have been expected to see behind the glimmer of our precious jewelry. Esculpta may have sold a few lavish articles but it wasn't in shape a glitzy corporate entity counting large profits, only a small Athens project based on the love of jewelry. Having been built from zero capital with endless hours of passion as the only investment, it was only just standing upright as crazy idea that might work. So, with very little to offer him in return back in the day, we were amazed that he accepted to shoot for us just for kicks (and some nice jewelry). I will always feel touched by the kindness he showed towards our vision and the helping hand he held out for me.

In 2014 Pavel got picked up by the international news channel CNN as an advocate of gay rights in Russia. His interests towards the end of his life were focused in his involvement in a make-up company and in interior design.

RIP PAVEL PETEL (1975-2020)