Beyond Zero 
Peter Wollen
- Kazimir Malevich: Suprematism edited by Matthew Drutt
Kazimir Malevich was the most enigmatic and the most provocative painter of the early Soviet period. He can be seen as a pioneer of abstraction and of the minimalist works produced many years later by such artists as Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko and Yves Klein. Or he can be regarded as a folk artist, or as a visionary who proposed to launch his Suprematist constructions and artworks into outer space, where they would circle the earth as satellites. He was also deeply interested in the theoretical relationship between painting, on the one hand, and poetry, music, film and architecture, on the other, an association which inspired him to get involved in the design and staging of his extraordinary opera, Victory over the Sun.
Subscribers to the print edition can log in to view the entire article. For information about subscribing to the London Review of Books click here. This article is available for purchase online. Buy this article.
Other articles by this contributor:
Tankishness · Tank by Patrick Wright
‘Don’t be afraid to copy it out’ · Peter Wollen remembers Kathy Acker
Stalin at the Movies · The Red Atlantis: Communist Culture in the Absence of Communism by J. Hoberman
Leave-Taking · Baader Meinhof Studies
print layout
tell a friend