Heating Pipes, Kamaz 1973

Petros Malayan painted this image of heating pipes with what looks like gouache or tempera, with a dry brush and a muted palette. I imagine the painting came into being slowly, through layers of colour and tone, the artist carefully mapping out the industrial scene. I feel sympathy for Malayan as I look at this painting. Perhaps he felt dwarfed by the scale of the industrial landscape, the pipes and silos looming over the figures. There's a stillness to the scene, a quiet observation of daily life amidst the machinery. The paint is applied in thin washes, allowing the texture of the paper to show through. See how the vertical strokes create a sense of depth and scale? The red scaffolding cuts through the composition, adding a jarring note of colour amidst the greys and browns. Malayan’s paintings share an aesthetic with the work of other painters of the everyday. Through the act of painting, Malayan invites us to contemplate the beauty and melancholy of the industrial world.