Two Male Figures 1932

Kazimir Malevich created 'Two Male Figures' with oil on canvas; and honey, it’s a trip. The figures are rendered in these creamy whites against a vivid blue sky. I can only imagine Malevich working on this, lost in thought, maybe wrestling with how to strip everything down to its bare essence. The forms are blocky, geometric almost. I'm thinking about the rough texture of the canvas. I imagine Malevich’s brushstrokes building up these layers, each one a small decision. Those thick black beards, they just hover there, like dark clouds. The color palette is so limited, yet somehow it speaks volumes. The way he balances those colors, it’s like a tightrope walk. Malevich was hanging out with some pretty radical dudes, like Mondrian. They were trying to invent a new language for painting. These guys were all listening to each other, egging each other on. Painting is a kind of embodied expression, and I think Malevich knew that. He lets his paintings be open to interpretation, lets them be a little bit weird, lets them be themselves.