At Tate Modern for only a few more weeks a revolutionary exhibition of the groundbreaking work of the iconic Russian artist Kazimir Malevich. I went with my daughter who knows a lot about contemporary art and was helpful in getting me to see and understand some of the more subtle ideas underpinning his work. One picture even I could not miss that was to have a seismic impact in 1915 when exhibited was Black Square. The original now so fragile that is cannot leave its home in Russia. However he sensibly made three others, we have two in this exhibition. When originally shown with a collection of his over minimalist works in 1915 the ground shook from the impact. In almost all Russian homes there is an icon is looking down on the family from a high point in a corning of the sitting/living room - just so with his Black Square picture - it it up high so we gaze on it reverentially as if it is Christ or the Virgin Mary.
He created an art movement he termed Suprematism that was the precursor of Abstraction and Modernism. In the political turmoil of the 1930's when Stalin was at his most destructive and brutal after introducing he agrarian revolution and consequent starvation of an estimated 30 million Russian citizens - Malevich had to keep a low profile and painted mainly pictures of peasant workers - often in Russian culture as representing and habouring the soul of mother Russia. Stalin dictated that all art should be henceforth Social Realism of workers in industry toiling away in massive iron works or the like.
Make an effort and go along to Tate Modern, its revolutionary.
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