Constructivism, most notable for its blocky shapes, and having a resurgence in the 1960s during the Space Race, had visible figures, despite it being less than realistic (thus being deemed by Joseph Stalin as ‘bourgeoisie’.) Despite this, the Avant-Garde movement, specifically Constructivism, was crucial for the Bolshevik revolution, as propaganda posters furthered the revolutionist's ideals in a visual form, then being accessible to even the illiterate. Notable Constructivist artist, Vladimir Mayakovsky stated, “Art must not be concentrated in dead shrines called museums. lt must be spread everywhere – on the streets, in the trams, factories, workshops, and in the workers’ homes.” Thus declaring the importance of accessibility to the common worker.
When I was but a child, I fell in love with the mosaic so proudly displayed outside the Fresno-Yosemite Airport. The piece is titled “Sky and Ground” by Raymond Rice. It is a beautiful piece of abstract art–its influence, profound. It always left an impact on me as a child, and in my mind, I placed it in the same cluster as old Hanna-Barbera title cards, Beatniks, and retro-futurism as a whole. Something about “Sky and Ground” struck me, and there, I fell in love with abstract art.
Forever, I wondered where I could find more that instilled the same space-age sensation in me… That is when I discovered ‘Suprematism’, a movement founded by Ukrainian-Polish painter Kazimir Malevich, which he claimed as “the supremacy of pure feeling or perception in the pictorial arts”. Not to be confused with Constructivism, an art movement that occurred a few years after Suprematism, that focused on the modern industrial society. Constructivism avoided decorative stylization and favored industrial assemblage of materials, often resulting in pieces of art that resembled chunks of cut-up paper and photographs, which is mainly because photo montaging was a technique used to create Constructivist artwork. Of course, both Suprematism and Constructivism stem from the Russian and Ukrainian Avant-Garde. This art movement flourished at the end of the Tsarist Russian Empire and the early Soviet Union, but was suffocated under Stalin’s regime, as he deemed abstract art as ‘bourgeoisie’. Fun fact: Both “Enthusiasm: The Symphony of Donbas” and “Man with a Movie Camera” were produced by Ukrainian film studios!
Suprematism on the other hand, known for its abstract shapes and lines and bold colours, played less of a role in the revolution, as Malevich was strongly anti-materialist, and anti-utilitarian. In Malevich’s book, "Suprematism" (Part II of The Non-Objective World), he wrote. “Art no longer cares to serve the state and religion, it no longer wishes to illustrate
the history of manners, it wants to have nothing further to do with the object, as such, and believes that it can exist, in and for itself, without "things" (that is, the "time-tested well-spring of life").” Therefore declaring that Suprematism does not exist to tow an agenda, but rather to express something pure and abstract.
These abstract movements from one hundred years ago, still have left a profound impact on the world; after much of it was rejected by critics in the 1930s during Stalin’s regime, it resurfaced in the 1960s, and trickled out into the Americas, appearing on matchboxes and in our cartoons. Simultaneously, in the Soviet Union, Avant-Garde found itself alive and well in the 80s, on the covers of Kino’s (Кино) “Blood Type” (Группа крови) and “The Last Hero” (Последний герой).
If I were asked to pick a favorite of the two Avant-Garde movements, I would tell you that they are incompatible in the best way, and walk off to admire “Sky and Ground”.
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