David Diao's Geometric Turn and Historical Reference to Malevich's 1915 Exhibition

David Diao initiated his painting investigations within the American artistic climate of the 1960s. A decisive shift occurred in 1974 when he deliberately adopted geometry as his fundamental creative principle. A decade later, in 1984, Diao's practice took a significant turn by incorporating a specific historical photograph as a key reference point. This reference was the photograph documenting Kazimir Malevich's groundbreaking 0.10 exhibition held in Petrograd in 1915. This strategic choice to engage with this seminal moment in art history has served to illuminate and define the trajectory of his artistic approach from that point forward, continuing to inform his work in the present day. The article, published in November 1988, frames this evolution as a dialogue between formalism and history within Diao's oeuvre.