Suprematism 1915

Curator: Kazimir Malevich’s “Suprematism,” painted in 1915, is a compelling example of the radical visual language he pioneered. What’s your first take? Editor: Absolute chaos! It feels like someone exploded a box of brightly colored geometric shapes. And yet, somehow, the pieces want to fly off the canvas, there is motion inherent in this chaos. Curator: The beauty is that within what feels haphazard is a carefully constructed arrangement of forms. It embodies the principles of Suprematism by focusing on pure geometric forms and their relationships to one another. Stripped bare of any narrative, we're invited into a realm of pure feeling, through form. Editor: The relationships are definitely dynamic. Those rectangles seem to both hover and push against each other in a gravitational ballet. What material did Malevich use? Curator: In this work, Malevich utilized acrylic paint to define shape. It's intriguing how, in reducing painting to its basic components, the work becomes incredibly… elemental, wouldn’t you say? Editor: Absolutely. There is something profound about it. He’s aiming at accessing a kind of universal, non-objective truth by disassembling how we see and rebuild with only squares, lines and circles. Very ambitious! Curator: Indeed. And risky! What resonates most is the emotional response evoked by such calculated starkness and precision. I think this resonates now in a chaotic time in the world, just as much as when Malevich completed this, 109 years ago. It challenges the idea of art reflecting reality to envision art as its own distinct, independent reality. Editor: Well, for me, the painting's refusal to be easily digestible is precisely what makes it stay with me. Like a puzzle whose pieces I might never arrange in full comprehension, "Suprematism" still entices me to rearrange them endlessly, a playground for my wandering thoughts and feelings. Curator: Agreed! The arrangement and the relationship within this visual feast sparks so many philosophical concepts which become intensely individual. Thank you. Editor: Thank you too.