UNOVIS

UNOVIS (УНОВИС), an abbreviation of "Utverditeli Novogo Iskusstva" (Утвердители Нового Искусства), translating to "Champions of the New Art," was a short-lived but influential group of artists, students, and teachers associated with the Vitebsk Art School in Vitebsk, Belarus (then part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic). Founded in 1919 by Kazimir Malevich, UNOVIS was committed to promoting Suprematism, Malevich's abstract art movement characterized by geometric forms, particularly squares and circles, presented in a limited range of colors.

The group's activities centered around the radical transformation of art education, design, and architecture in line with Suprematist principles. They believed art should not merely represent the visible world but should express pure feeling and abstract spiritual realities. UNOVIS members engaged in various projects, including the creation of Suprematist designs for posters, banners, theatrical productions, and architectural models. They also sought to apply Suprematism to industrial design and urban planning, envisioning a utopian society based on abstract geometric forms.

Key figures besides Malevich associated with UNOVIS included El Lissitzky, Lazar Khidekel, Nikolai Suetin, Ilya Chashnik, and Vera Ermolaeva. While the group was based in Vitebsk, its influence extended beyond the city, and it attracted adherents from other parts of Russia and abroad.

UNOVIS began to fragment in the early 1920s due to internal disagreements and the changing political climate in the Soviet Union, which favored more representational and socially engaged art forms. Malevich himself left Vitebsk in 1922, and the group formally dissolved shortly thereafter. Despite its relatively short existence, UNOVIS left a lasting legacy on the development of abstract art, design, and architecture in the 20th century. Its members' innovative approaches to art education and their utopian visions of a Suprematist future continue to be studied and celebrated.