A burst of black and white wall graphics lend an aptly energetic backdrop to Zaha Hadid’s flexing furniture and the geometric works of Russian Suprematist artists at Zurich’s Galerie Gmurzynska.
Curated and designed by the architect herself, ’Zaha Hadid and Suprematism’ explores the long-standing connection between Hadid’s work and the Russian Avant Garde movement of the early twentieth century. The seed for this show was first planted when she designed the Guggenheim’s exhibition about the movement - titled ’The Great Utopia’ - in New York in 1992, before her first architectural project had been built. But it is the first exhibition to focus on the link between her own work and the movement.
The Suprematists provided graphic order during the politically chaotic years leading up to, and during, the Russian revolution. The father of the movement, Kazimir Malevich, is represented here by works including ’Red Square: Painterly Realism of a Peasant Woman in Two Dimensions’ - simply depicting a red square on a white background. His pieces are accompanied by those by the likes of Ilya Chashnik and Alexander Rodchenko, whose ordered shapes have strong architectural traces.
Alongside these are a series of drawings and images spanning from the beginning of Hadid’s career to the present day. The Suprematists’ influence is clear in the geometry of her work, its contours and complex landscapes. Also on show are the fluid forms of her more recent furniture designs, such as the ’Seoul’ desk and the ’Orchis’ series of outdoor stools.
