Uros Todorovic Byzantine Painting Contemporary Eyes

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Chapter V
In addition, it is our observation that, especially in section 5 of his text God is not Cast Down, Malevich clearly reveals his philosophical and theological understanding of art, and in those particular pages almost reminds us of the Mystical Theology of Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite. In order to exemplify this partial yet noteworthy similarity, we include here a short excerpt from Malevich’s aforementioned text:
“And all of the things which we see and which seem to us as separate, are but a lie, everything intertwines and untangles simultaneously, nothing exists on its own, there- fore objects and things do not exist, they cannot exist, and it is a ludicrous attempt to want to approach these.”45 The analogy is to a certain degree detected in the following contemplation of God by Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite, written in his Mystical The- ology: “Again, ascending yet higher, we maintain that it is neither soul nor intellect; nor has it imagination, opinion, reason or understanding; nor can it be expressed or con- ceived, since it is neither number nor order; nor greatness nor smallness; nor equality nor inequality; nor similarity nor dissimilarity;”46
However, to which degree was Malevich familiar with the Mystical Theology of Dio- nysius the Pseudo-Areopagite remains disputable. It is nonetheless an unquestionably light-shedding phenomenon that a discernible similarity exists between Malevich’s the- ories and the theological text upon which Orthodox Christianity constructed its dogmat- ic teachings – which in turn constitute the main inspiration in the aesthetics of (Late) Byzantine painting. In light of this, it might not be a coincidence that in his text God is not Cast Down Malevich discusses the term “essence” almost (yet not quite) as an Ortho- dox theologian: “Thus, the disappearance of a form does not mean that everything has disappeared. Forms are destroyed in such a way, but not the essence, as essence, accord- ing to the definition ascribed to it by man himself, is absolutely indestructible: since the essence is indestructible, God too is indestructible. Therefore, God is not cast down.”47
45 Our translation of: «Και όλα αυτά πού βλέπουμε και μας φαίνονται χωριστά, απομονωμένα, δεν είναι παρά ψέμμα, τα πάντα πλέκονται και ξεπλέκονται ταυτόχρονα, τίποτα δεν υπάρχει μόνο του, έτσι ώστε τα αντικείμενα και τα πράγματα δεν υπάρχουν, δεν μπορούν να υπάρξουν, και είναι μια ανόητη προσπάθεια να θέλουμε να τα προσεγ- γίσουμε.» This is a citation from Malevich’s text entitled God is not Cast Down: Art, Church, Factory. See: Καζιμίρ Μά- λεβιτς, Γραπτά, μετάφραση: Δημήτρης Χορόσκελης (Θεσσαλονίκη: Εκδόσεις Βάνιας, 1992), 174.
46 For the English translation of Mystical Theology see: http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeII/MysticalTheology. html For the original in Greek see:
Περὶ μυστικῆς θεολογίας: Corpus Dionysiacum, II. De mystica thelogia, hrsg. von G. Heil und A. M. Ritter, Patristische Texte und Studien 36, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter 1991, 139–150 (= PG 3, 997–1064).
47 Our translation of: «Έτσι, η εξαφάνιση της μορφής δεν σημαίνει ότι όλα εξαφανίστηκαν. Με αυτόν τον τρόπο καταστρέφονται οι μορφές αλλά όχι η ουσία, γιατί η ουσία, σύμφωνα με τον ορισμό που την έδωσε ο ίδιος ο άνθρω- πος, είναι εντελώς άφθαρτη: αφού η ουσία είναι άφθαρτη, και ο Θεός είναι άφθαρτος. Έτσι, ο Θεός δεν είναι έκπτω- τος.» This is a citation from Malevich’s text entitled God is not Cast Down: Art, Church, Factory. See: Καζιμίρ Μάλεβιτς, Γραπτά, μετάφραση: Δημήτρης Χορόσκελης (Θεσσαλονίκη: Εκδόσεις Βάνιας, 1992), 220.
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