Invitation to -Grand Bal des Artistes- 1923

This invitation to the -Grand Bal des Artistes- was made by Mikhail Larionov, probably as a print, but who knows what the original was. I love how the shapes and letters look like they are dancing off the paper. The color is reduced to brown and black, and the figures are reduced to almost nothing: pure blocky silhouettes. And then there are the words, squished and stretched into shapes that are both readable and totally abstract. Look at the figure on the left – is it holding something, or is it being swallowed by a dark form? That kind of ambiguity is what makes art so alive. It’s like Larionov is saying, "Come to the party, but be ready for anything!" It reminds me a little of some of Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s playful abstraction, so energetic and alive. But unlike her precise geometry, Larionov has this amazing looseness and playful quality.