Why “Black Square” is a Piece of Art

Black Square is an artistic work of a draftsman identified as Kazimir Malevich. The art lacks most of the principles used to define any artwork because it is painted using a single color. Elements such as texture, form, shape, and line define art because they train the human eye to identify patterns, consistencies, and commonalities in the environment. However, Black Square does not have any lines or texture because it is a one-dimensional square painted black and surrounded by white borders. Nonetheless, it is a revolutionary piece depicting the renowned Supremacist movement in Russia. It is considered a work of art because it lacks reality, has multiple points of view, and it draws viewer engagement.

Similar to most pieces of art, Black Square draws the viewers to engage with it because it deviates from the traditional artwork practices. Most people marvel at the artist’s intention, and this draws the engagement because it is a solid block of color that cannot be positioned within any niche (Shatskikh, 2012). Black Square allows the refraction of light to create the illusion of movement on the surface, creating a strong relationship between the painting and the viewer’s spatial distance (Shatskikh, 2012). It establishes a sort of conversation with the viewers, most of whom opt to walk around it as they question the intentions of the artist, and this makes it an artistic piece just like the ancient Chauvet cave paintings.

There is no rightful way of looking at Malevich’s Black Square, but synonymous with renowned works of art, the fame associated with this painting keeps flipping. After his death in 1935, for instance, the painting disappeared from the realm of Soviet Russia until the 1980s (Shatskikh, 2012). There are varied interpretations of the painting across the globe, without a universal means of describing it, a reason why it has gained popularity as the most enigmatic and frightening painting. Whereas some viewers interpret it as a plain Black Square that has no meaning, the rest construe it as an open window pointing to the sky during the night (Shatskikh, 2012). This is consistent with most works of art which have different meanings to the audience, with no universal definition of the artist’s objective.

The Black Square painting does not offer depictions of reality, and this is a trait that qualifies it for a piece of art. The painting and the subject matter are intertwined because the artist does not create any distractions through the infusion of texture (Tate Collection). The painting is often interpreted in the context of time because it has no attributes of true life. It lacks a face either, and as most analysts point out, Black Square is one of the hollow recesses which lack lines, detail, and curvature (Tate Collection). Rather than depicting goodness, nature, and light, therefore, it is a representation of endless darkness, indicating that Malevich’s imagination and deviation from artistic norms elicit creativity.

In summary, Black Square is one of the renowned and most controversial paintings in the world today, although the intent of the creator remains unknown. Identified as an influential contributor in the Russian Avant-Garde movement, Malevich’s work has continuously flipped between popularity and oblivion. It deviates from artistic norms because the painting lacks color, texture, form, or even line. Even so, it draws engagement from the viewers, sparking the kind of conversation that is only seen when interacting with artistic works. The painting is not an indication of reality, and besides, there are varied interpretations of its meaning, which qualify it for a piece of art.

References

Shatskikh, A. (2012). Black Square: Malevich and the origin of Suprematism. Yale University Press.

Tate Collection. (2017, January 19). 3 things you didn’t know about Kazimir Malevich’s ‘Black Square’ art. Retrieved from https://www.entitymag.com/3-things-didnt-know-malevichs-black-square/

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