Rebel Russians: Malevich & the Avantgarde

delivered by Andrew Spira.

The ‘Iconic’ in Russian art

Andrew has been looking at the notion of ‘iconicity’ in Russian art. The first talk addressed the role of sacred icons in Russia, exploring their roots in Byzantium and the ways they were adapted to a Russian cultural milieu. The second talk focussed on the ways that icons developed in response to influence from western European art, and how the subsequent revival of interest in traditional icons precipitated the development of modern art in Russia. This third talk will focus on a single work - Kasimir Malevich’s Black Square of 1915 - and will examine how the layers of meaning and resonance that underpin it make it one of the most iconic works of art ever made.

Please note NO recordings are made, and it is therefore not possible to catch up on previously missed talks!

Russian Icons & Russian Avant-Garde Art

When Kasimir Malevich’s ‘iconic’ Black Square was produced in 1915, no one had ever seen anything like it before. And yet it does have precedents. In fact, over the previous five hundred years, several painters, writers, philosophers, scientists and censors – each working independently towards an absolute statement of their own – alighted on the form of the black square or rectangle, as if for the first time. This talk will explore the resonances between Malevich’s Black Square and its precursors, showing how a quasi-genealogical thread binds them together into an intriguing, and sometimes quirky, sequence of modulations. Each predecessor both foreshadows Malevich’s work and, paradoxically, throws light on it, revealing layers of meaning that are often overlooked but which are as relevant today as ever.

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