Dynamic city

From 1919 to 1921 Gustav Klucis was working on the idea of the painted representation of a planet floating through space, a planet on which the rules of atmospheric gravity are observed while the various minimalist planes intersecting the sphere seek to convey messages relating to the possibilities of new technological advances.

The central painting, of particular interest in terms of the use of materials which transform the texture, is titled “Dynamic City”. Klucis also presented the painting under the title “Plan for the City of the Future”, and described his artistic method as “axonometric painting”. The work also reflects the fascination felt by many of the Russian avant-garde artists for theories of cosmic, astronomical phenomena, and their interest in the future conquest of space, the study of the universe and the habitation of planets. Klucis continued working for several years on this motif of the “Dynamic City” and made a series of photomontage images, which capture a futuristic representation of a modern city with facades of skyscrapers and obtain a selectively representational character with elements of human figures and walls of buildings projected from all points and thus creating a sense of gravity, as it happens on planet Earth.