Spatial-Force Construction

Having a special interest in architecture and having studied Russian folk architecture in particular and the Islamic architecture of Samarkand, where she was impressed by the relationship between geometry and colour, Liubov Popova created a series of non-objective works that she called "Painted Architectures" between 1916 and 1918 and "Painted Constructions" and finally "Spatial-Dynamic Constructions" between 1920 and 1921. Popova's close friend and collaborator, the Constructivist architect Alexandre Vesnin, influenced the artist's preoccupation with architectural forms.In 1916-18 Popova focused her work on non-objective painting after becoming familiar with Malevich's Suprematism. She did not, however, limit herself, with the exception of the first 'Painting Architects' of 1916. To the Suprematist formula of geometric forms that develop freely in space and hover in the off-white void. For Popova, the concept of "Architectural" goes beyond the strict boundaries of architecture and relates to the dynamic combination of geometric forms, volumes, colour and materials. The "Architects" are not created with a structural, functional logic but through the power of colour and light shading they strongly convey the sense of plasticity and offer to architecture itself original proposals of harmonious geometricity. Moreover, the concept of 'plasticity' had also preoccupied Popova during her cubo-futurist period, when she herself described her painting as 'plastic'. Through the combination of circular and linear forms, the "Spatially Dynamic Constructions" create a sense of constant movement and the transformation of the painting into an energetic object.