O, △, ☐ and the other geometric forms found in paintings and sculptures from this period are integral to avant-garde art. They first appeared as elements to take the place of traditional representational expression and were later used as part of an attempt to create a new visual language removed from depictions of the real world. All around the world, geometric shapes have symbolized purity, integrity, and thoughtful and well-proportioned ideal forms. In Zen paintings that express the spirit and worldview of Zen Buddhism, circles represent the realm of enlightenment and the Zen view of the universe. In some respects, Zen paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries resemble humorous, spontaneous abstract paintings. In the 20th century, the Russian painter Kazimir Malevich (1878-1935) set out to produce purely abstract paintings completely unrestricted by the need to depict actual subjects, giving rise to Suprematism. These ideas found expression in his various paintings of squares. Later, artists came to give philosophical meaning to geometric forms and linked them to abstract concepts and ideas related to modernism. In the 1960s and 70s, artworks were pared back to basic forms as artists pursued minimalist expression in which the focus was on the location of the works and their relationship with the viewers. Geometric forms can also be seen in works by members of Mono-ha, who eschewed the processing of materials and instead concerned themselves with the nature of artworks as mono, or "things."

*image (left)
Atsuko Tanaka 
artwork, 1959
Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art Collection