black square is a contemporary monument that mirrors the surroundings of malevich park, moscow

artist gregory orekhov reinterprets the 'black square' in his new contemporary work for malevich park located in the moscow region

Orekhov edited by myrto katsikopoulou September 6, 2021 3 min

enter the park or enter infinity

located in the moscow region, near the settlements of barvikha and nemchninovka, a park named after kazimir malevich has opened its doors to the public. one of the key elements of the park is this sculpture created by gregory orekhov. ‘black square’ is the first large-scale monument created in memory of kazimir malevich, and a unique example of a contemporary russian sculpture. orekhov considered the sculpture’s captured volume and intentionally preserved its ‘unnaturalness’ against the backdrop of the park, which is the most important characteristic of the object.

the artist masterfully integrates the work of art within the built environment, all the while connecting the viewer to the architectural space of the landscape. divided into two parts, ‘black square’ acts as a passageway into the park. the object itself is quite utilitarian in its nature. the artist’s idea is to enter the ‘square’ and find oneself at a crossroad — to either enter the park or enter infinity, a crossing between what occurs in real-life and hundreds of its unfulfilled variations.

artist gregory orekhov reinterprets the black square in his new work for malevich park located in the moscow region 1
all images by nikita subbotin

this work is from cultural figures of the early 20th century

gregory orekhov placed two full-length mirrors made of polished stainless steel into the two halves of the cube. the steel sheets made in the artist’s studio have no analogs in russia, while the surface polishing was achieved with the highest level of processing. nevertheless, the technique is applied against itself, against the course of historical time, against progress, as a means of overcoming history and returning to the beginning of nature.

the invasion of industrial production into the traditional way of living was perceived as destruction of unity within nature, on which the millennial cultural tradition was based upon. the representation of sculpture and painting has since been regarded as something ‘real’ — not as duplicates of real things existent in an idealistic space. ‘the viewer turns into an accomplice, falling into an endless corridor of reflections. the dynamics of the viewer’s movement become intriguing inside the static figure.’ as described by curator and art critic mikhail sidlin.

artist gregory orekhov reinterprets the black square in his new work for malevich park located in the moscow region 2 — entering infinity

image by konstantin antipin

artist gregory orekhov reinterprets the black square in his new work for malevich park located in the moscow region 3 — perfect black square

artist gregory orekhov reinterprets the black square in his new work for malevich park located in the moscow region 4 — close up of the black square detail on grass

artist gregory orekhov reinterprets the black square in his new work for malevich park located in the moscow region 5 — black square framing nature

artist gregory orekhov reinterprets the black square in his new work for malevich park located in the moscow region 6 — mirroring the surroundings nature of malevich park

black square is a contemporary monument that mirrors the surroundings of malevich park, moscow - 1 — mirroring the surroundings nature of malevich park

black square is a contemporary monument that mirrors the surroundings of malevich park, moscow - 2 — mirroring the surroundings nature of malevich park

black square is a contemporary monument that mirrors the surroundings of malevich park, moscow - 3 — half black half sky

black square is a contemporary monument that mirrors the surroundings of malevich park, moscow - 4 — the sculpture perfectly blending with the blue sky

project info:

name: ‘malevich’
designer: gregory orekhov

location: moscow, russia

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.