Composition (Red Circle Offset to the Right, Down, Vertically) 1982

Editor: This is "Composition (Red Circle Offset to the Right, Down, Vertically)" by Hryhorii Havrylenko, from 1982, mixed media and acrylic paint. I’m struck by how the bright circle seems to anchor this riot of shapes and colours. It feels both chaotic and really carefully structured. How do you interpret this work? Curator: It strikes me as a visual poem, really. Consider the circle: historically, the circle is often a symbol of wholeness, of the divine. Havrylenko subtly subverts that expectation. It is off-center, creating tension. Notice how the surrounding forms--the blocks and daubs of blue, black and yellow – they jostle around it, almost as if vying for its attention, but unable to break free from its symbolic gravity. What do you make of this disruption and how it's creating balance, using the shapes? Editor: That's interesting. I see how it might be symbolic, and yet because it’s abstract, I’m never quite sure if I am “reading too much” into it. Curator: Not at all. Think about it this way. In abstraction, colour and form replace the easily identifiable narratives. The red circle may speak to power, given its intensity. Its off-kilter placement and the push-and-pull with the other shapes might be symbolic of conflicts—inner, social, political. What meaning does hard-edge painting contribute here? Editor: It gives this order of form which also conflicts, the composition has very angular blocks, and chaotic free-form blobs. The blocks constrain it a bit. Curator: Exactly, perhaps that also means these constraints reflect cultural memory being offset or stifled. This piece almost becomes like a personal meditation using universally recognisable colours and shapes. A silent conversation in colour. Editor: It's amazing how much a simple composition can suggest once you start unpacking the symbolic potential. Thank you! Curator: Indeed, it shows the power of visual language!