Kurasov

Tango-Jazz by Gregory Kurasov (2018)

Cubism is one of those art styles that is very much a child of its era. Its deliberate anti-traditionalist look was the perfect visual for the rapidly evolving modernism of the early Twentieth Century. It was loud and dynamic like its era and shattered accepted ideas of what art was or could be. Cubism’s importance to art history cannot be exaggerated.

However, like anything avant-garde, it quickly became outdated. Art evolved and Cubism’s ideas went on to inspire more ground-breaking, ever modern movements and styles. As a result, when I see a cubist-style artwork created recently (especially within the last thirty-plus years), it looks weird and out-of-place to me. There are only two times where I thought a twenty-first-century Cubist painting “worked”. One, believe-it-or-not, was an entry at the local county fair. The other is here.

In Tango-Jazz, a couple dance in a stylish nightclub where the men wear tuxedoes and the women are in dresses and heels. Kurasov frames the work with the hot, vivid red of the curtain and piano. For the figures, he uses black and white. This silhouettes them against that bright color and makes them stand out. But Kurasov adds small, flashy dabs of red in the figures – his cummerbund and cuff links, her arm band and shoes – to unite the images. The small red accents pop off the canvas without looking forced or out of place.

I like what Kurasov is doing with their poses. The man is in a full-frontal pose with his left arm raised. His right arm curls around the woman’s waist, and his elbows bend at a sharp angles. The woman twists her body so that her torso is turned toward the viewer. Her right arm is raised while her left bends down. These gestures cause the two poses to mirror one another. Kurasov reverses this counter-pose with the legs. There both right legs are straight and the lefts bend. The dramatic twist of the woman’s body and the angles of the couple’s limbs give this work movement. Because I can see these people dance, I can also hear this painting. The music is smooth and groovy, played by a first-rate band.

The Cubist style makes this painting work. It mixes well with the subject matter. The criss-crossing lines look like fragmented glass. The shapes are flashy and sharp. Notice where all those lines and angles seem to meet – right at the couple’s hips and waists, and at the man’s hand caressing the woman’s thigh. He grasps her hips and pulls her to him. The main colors of red, black, and white contrast with each other without clashing, intensifying each. This mimics the intensity of the couple – in their expressions and poses. His gaze is especially forceful. I feel the heat coming off these people through the hot red.

Now notice that the painting is not all straight lines. There are some curves too but look where they are – in the couple’s bodies, especially the woman’s. To me, these lines stand out from the rest and draw my eye’s attention. The lean, muscular legs flex and step to the music. Meanwhile, the rest accentuate the natural curves of the woman.

Kurasov’s cubist technique draws attention to the sensuous dance. The couple moves as smooth jazz provides the beat for a sultry tango. They match each other’s motion and harmonize their poses while the colors reflect the work’s mood. This is a sexy painting.

This work is in the artist’s private collection.