. G OX WA
. G OX WA
axelle.com
2 | This is the title PP” x PP”
cover | The Kiss 63½” x 51”
above | Wedding shoes 31¾” x 25½”
opposite | Sunset 45½” x 35”
. G OX WA There is clearly something in Goxwa’s painting which attracts people at first glance. The sources of the attraction, however, are not easy to identify just as her work cannot readily be classified into in any school or style. Bob Wernick, a close friend of the artist, tells a story to illustrate the mystifying allure of her work.
While walking
down the rue de Seine in Paris on his way to the opening of a Goxwa Borg show, he found himself following a little group of art-lovers lead by a young man playing the role of tour guide, offering explanations of the artwork along the way. He stopped at a window, pointed inside and said, “Conceptualism.” The followers all stopped, looked, nodded, and walked on. At the next gallery window it was “Minimalism,” and again they all stopped, looked and nodded and walked on. When they arrived at the work of Goxwa at Galerie de l’Europe, the young man found no words to say. After a moment of silently gazing at her paintings his followers all walked in the door. In her work, Goxwa combines highly individual colors, wonderfully thick textures of oil and wax and a light that you will find nowhere else. She draws inspiration for this light from many sources; from Malta, her native land, from the walls of Pompeii, from the Mediterranean surely, and from certain skies of Paris, where she currently lives. Viewing her work often generates more questions than answers for the beholder; who are these people? To what time period do these figures belong? And what exactly are they doing? Nevertheless, her subjects hold a very strong alluring presence; one is drawn to the mystery floating in every painting. Girl in the garden 51” x 32”
Awakening 76½” x 38” | 3
Similarly with her subjects one is never really sure if they are appearing or disappearing, emerging from or fading into the warm, rich textures of the background. “Walls,” says Goxwa, “are like masks, simultaneously concealing and revealing the living beings behind them.” The backgrounds of her paintings are mottled with splashes of color and seemingly disordered etchings, which represent her walls. Goxwa paints with a palette knife, using the tool just as the word ‘knife’ would imply. She is fencing with the canvas flat against the wall, using the hard instrument to produce the most delicate beauty. We can only imagine the amount of effort it must have taken to produce an impression, the sparkle of an eye, the soft light of day, with the tip of a sword. Although a certain “fresco” effect has always marked the work of Goxwa, new forms are constantly appearing in her paintings. We find in her new work vaults or circles that frame faces, leading the spectator to wonder if he is seeing a subject or its reflection, never sure of just how much “representation” is at work. Her women, flowers, birds, boats, landscapes and monuments all form something like an archeology of sensuality, the bases of the subtle force of beauty which outwits time. – Olivier Renault
Green glove 57’x 44¾”
At rest 38” x 51” | 5
Petite marchande de fleurs 63¾” x 38”
6 | Tall vase 47” x 23½” | 7
8 | Roman vase 51” x 38”
Old chair 51” x 38”
An offering 47” x 47” | 9
10 | Calypso 76¾” x 38”
47” x 23½” Flowers | 11
12 | Innocence 59” x 19½”
Black vase 47” x 23½” | 13
. G OX WA CURRICULUM Solo Exhibitions
Other Exposure
2011 Galerie Felli 2010 Axelle Fine Arts Galerie, New York Axelle Fine Arts Galerie, Boston 2009 Galerie Felli, Paris 2008 Axelle Fine Arts Galerie, Chelsea, New York 2007 Galerie Felli, Paris 2006 Axelle Fine arts Galerie Soho, New York 2005 Axelle Fine Arts Galerie Soho, New York 2005 Axelle Fine Arts Galerie de l’Europe, San Francisco 2005 Galerie Felli, Paris 2003 Axelle Fine Arts Galerie Soho, New York 2002 Galerie de l’Europe, Paris Foire d’Art Contemporain, Strasbourg 2001 Galerie de l’Europe, Paris Studio de l’Image, Paris 2000 Galerie de l’Europe, Paris 1998 Galerie Christine Colas et Pascal Odille - Paris 8th International Show Contempory Music Art Show - Angers 1997 Galerie Christine Colas 1996 Commission Européenne, Malta Delegation - Paris
2011 Malta Independent, Nov article by Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci ArtsThree, Oct article by Marie-Laure Despardis 2009 Miroir de l’Art Magazine, six page editorial 2009 The painting “Pride” featured prominently in “Mademoiselle Chambon” a movie by Stéphane Brizé with Sandrine Kiberlain and Vincent Lindon 1998 Review, Robert Wernick, Sunday Times, Malta 1997 Painting cover art, Mistero Buffo, Dario Fo, Publishers Enterprises Group Review, Robert Wernick, Sunday Times, Malta 1996 Review, Patrice de la Perrière, Univers des Arts, Dec-Jan Issue Charcoals featured with poetry of Andrei Fitaine, Epitalamju, Il mument, Malta 1994 Painting for cover art, poetry of Rick Lyons, B.O.A. Publishers Review, Rick Lyons, Sunday Times, Malta 1993 Painting for cover art, Large scale theories of the brain, MIT Press 1990 Artwork for Album cover End of an Era, Alfonso Villalonga Design Times : The style of New England, Sep-Oct issue Painting and fresco featured in Rain Forest: proving their worth, WGBH-TV (PBS) 1989 Painting featured Proyecto Letimaren, Cultural Survival (Ecuador, USA) Review, The Primitive Syndrome, E. Fiorentino, Sunday Times, Malta
1995 1994 1993
Bedford Gallery, Virginia Cité Internationale des Arts - Paris Malta Embassy - Paris The Harvest, Cambridge, Massachussetts
Awards & Recognitions 1993-94 Resident Fellow at Cité Internationale des Arts – Paris 1993 Resident Fellow at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts 1990 Harvard Extension Scholarship in Directing 1986-87 Emerson College Scholarship
Tree 31¾” x 25½” 14 | About to fly 21½” x 18”
©2012 GOXWA. All paintings oil & wax on canvas.
Theater 1994 Present Acting Instructor - Paris 1990 Playwright, The Whore’s Child 1989 Director, Emerson College Loft Production of The Maids (Genet) 1986 Creator, Director, Actor in Il Holma (The Dream) performance piece, Emerson
16 | Silver glass 39” x 19½”
Red ribbon 76¾” x 38” | 17
Reflection 51” x 38”