Radical Black. Essay on Color, Power, and Contemporary Art

Mikhail Martynov explores the use of black as a symbol of resistance against hierarchical structures in contemporary art. The author reflects from a first-person perspective, inviting readers to engage in a dialogue about the political significance and aesthetics of black. He investigates the protest semantics of black in contemporary art, as well as examining diverse practices of using black as a means of political protest, tracing their origins back to the anarchist tradition of the early 20th century and the first post-revolutionary years.

Martynov seeks to determine whether black possesses universal characteristics of negation and rebellion, or if its protest nature is reconstructed in the context of specific artistic practices, and even — is it possible to justify the radicality of black based on its own characteristics?