The Russian performer, who nailed his testicles to Red Square in protest against the Kremlin's crackdown on political rights, might face up to five years in prison, a media report said.
Pyotr Pavlensky's faces the charge of hooliganism, which is used to prosecute perceived breaches of public order, the BBC reports.
According to the report, Pavlensky was arrested on Monday, but released the following day and placed under travel restrictions.
The 29-year-old is now under criminal investigation for his actions at the Kremlin wall, the report added.
He had reportedly sat for an hour-and-a-half on the square on Sunday afternoon, with a nail driven through his genitals into the ground in order to draw attention to Russian society's inaction in the face of the development of a police state.
A police source said that the article under which Pavlensky was being charged carried a wide range of penalties, starting with a fine and going up to a five-year prison sentence.