Untitled 1985

Editor: So, here we have an acrylic on canvas painting titled "Untitled" created by Georgi Kovachev in 1985. It definitely has this interesting tension between the vibrant Fauvist color palette and the somber scene depicted... almost a Fauvist icon? How do you interpret this work? Curator: Immediately, the pairing of figures reminds me of traditional iconography: a protector and someone being protected. But, rendered in acrylic with those swathes of color… the scene transforms. Do you see how the almost aggressive use of color changes our emotional perception? Editor: Yes, it feels less devotional and more…earthly? It's not quite a Madonna and Child. There’s almost something unsettling about the intensity of the colors and their slightly distorted forms. Curator: The visual symbols - a large figure reaching down, seemingly offering or taking something - they pull from something very old in our collective memory. But what? Is it comfort? A warning? The abstracted forms, painted with almost brutal honesty using color, feel almost… primal. Editor: That makes sense. It's like he's using familiar symbolic forms to evoke an emotional response, but through jarring, almost chaotic means. Do you think that was intentional? Curator: Absolutely! Think about what else was happening culturally in the mid-80s; a lot of uncertainty and anxiety. Kovachev uses recognizable visual cues - archetypes - but twists them, disrupting any simple reading. What looks at first like comfort transforms under a closer reading to reveal that the human figures in emotional contact are fragile and exposed, at risk of losing physical or mental balance. Editor: Wow, I wouldn't have seen so many layers without that deeper understanding of symbolism and cultural memory. It definitely gives the piece so much more depth. Curator: Exactly. Looking beyond the aesthetic is key to unlocking these complex stories woven within art.