Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Malevich- from figures to shapes and back again

It is rare to see the transition of a great artist from figures through abstract to defined shapes and back to enhanced figures. Tate Modern has secured a truly international retrospective that is both aesthetically comprehensive and intellectually complete. Kazimir Malevich was born in Kiev in 1879 and seemed to absorb impressionism, surrealism and cubism in order to define his own geometric style, otherwise known as suprematism. He is recognised as an avant garde leader, with his Black Square being a key contribution. His career spanned a politically unstable period in Russia and was obviously influenced by his European contemporaries. Each of the 12 rooms are distinct and dramatically different from the others. It was great to see his commitment to teaching about colour and form, even using German to move beyond Russia. This room reminded me of the Bauhaus movement but was almost 10 years earlier. I loved the way he predicted the death of painting, but then showed us that he could engineer it's own resurrection...