Cubist Composition 1920

David Kakabadzé made this Cubist Composition with paint, how exactly, well, that’s the interesting question, isn't it? I can imagine him layering, stripping back, and rethinking. What if it emerged slowly, finding its form over time, from dark to light? I sympathize with Kakabadzé. Creating must have been challenging, working through the emerging language of Cubism. What was he thinking, making these flat shapes become something spatial? I see the hand of someone engaged in the materiality of painting—the thin layers of subdued colour. The surface isn't fighting for attention, but the composition, with its shifting planes, is. Look at how the white geometric forms suggest a kind of architectural intervention, sitting against a dark void. There's a conversation happening here with other Cubists, for sure, but also something very particular to Kakabadzé. Artists are always in dialogue with each other, building on what came before, and pushing things forward, each adding their own voice to the mix. Painting is an embodied expression, embracing all the uncertainties of the medium.