Composition From a Series 'Compositions With Colored Square Shapes' 1981

Hryhorii Havrylenko made this painting, one of a series of colourful squares. I imagine the artist carefully applying each vibrant square, feeling the texture of the paint beneath his brush. I wonder what he was thinking as he chose each colour, each shape. The blues are dense and confident, the reds zing against the white background. There’s a brown rectangle there too, acting as a calming influence, and a yellow rectangle which vibrates with pure delight. I'm struck by the black circle and square; they're very subtle against the rest. The more I look the more they seem to ground the composition. It reminds me a little of Malevich or maybe even Ellsworth Kelly, but with its own quirky rhythm. It's like these artists are having a conversation across time, each adding their voice to the ongoing story of painting. It's not trying to represent something, more like it's trying to create its own kind of feeling.