Cosmic Cathedral 1968

Curator: This is Vangel Naumovski’s “Cosmic Cathedral,” completed in 1968 using gouache. What strikes you most about it initially? Editor: It feels like a dream, almost unsettling. The colors are vibrant, but the figures seem caught between abstraction and reality. Is it meant to be harmonious or something else? Curator: That tension is part of its power, I think. Naumovski was deeply interested in blending organic forms with elements of Surrealism, all within this imagined landscape. The means by which gouache is worked here suggests an incredible fluidity. What kind of support structure did the artist choose? How accessible and expensive was that substrate at the time? Editor: It definitely challenges our typical notions of landscape painting and figuration. Knowing that Naumovski's work was created in the socio-political landscape of the former Yugoslavia during that time offers further insight. His engagement with this specific political, cultural, and, maybe also, economic framework would give an insight of the public role and reach that art enjoyed back then, right? Curator: Precisely. How artistic production functions under the sway of differing institutional policies, funding priorities, and public reception is a valuable thread here. Were galleries displaying works of this nature, or were the production processes largely self-driven within the region's art communities at that time? Editor: Good questions. Looking again, I wonder about those floating orb-like shapes. Are they planets, seeds, or something else entirely? Is the artist exploring themes related to cosmos, existence and connection to nature? Curator: Many see those motifs as symbolizing the interconnectedness of all living things, mirroring a deeper spiritual or philosophical dimension. The material reality of how those shapes were formed, though, through layers of carefully applied gouache, tells a more grounded story of Naumovski's labor. The artist made clear choices in applying particular methods, yes? Editor: This conversation has helped unlock different ways of seeing Naumovski's cathedral; it appears simultaneously a dreamscape and something rooted in artistic and institutional contexts. Curator: Absolutely. And, I suppose the blending of material realities, artistic traditions, and sociocultural contexts makes it far richer.