In September 1921, Alexander Rodchenko exhibited three monochrome canvases: "Pure Red Color", "Pure Blue Color" and "Pure Yellow Color". Of the iconic series he wrote: "I have reduced painting to its logical solution by exhibiting three canvases: red, blue and yellow. I confirmed: it's all over. Basic colors. Every surface is just a surface and no representation is intended."
Between 1966 and 1970, Barnett Newman made another iconic work that has remained in art history: a series of four canvases titled Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue, apparently referencing Rodchenko.
My reference concerns the surface so important to Rodchenko, showing that every surface has a flip side. In this case the main colours: red, yellow and blue, are applied to the back of the canvas, remaining hidden from the viewer. On the face, only those remnants of colour that have managed to break through the threads of the canvas are visible, as blood or sweat break through the pores of the body's skin. Hence the title "Who's Afraid of the Other Side".
Krassimir Terziev: Reconstructions of the Forthcoming, 2022, Structura Gallery, Sofia, curated by Maria Vassileva