Wiċċimbwiċċ Exhibition Catalogue by Fabrizio Soler

The Malta Arts Festival 2012

4 - 22nd July 2012 Upper Galleries St James Cavalier Valletta Curator:

Austin Camilleri

Assistant Curator:

Katarina Lennmarker

Text:

Biographies and work text courtesy of artists, edited by Katarina Lennmarker. ISBN:

978-99957-817-2-9

Catalogue design:

Pierre Portelli

Photography:

Elisa von Brockdorff Peter Bartolo Parnis

Translation Proofreading

M. A. Fenech Maureen Saguna

Printing:

Print It Ltd

Exhibition design:

Austin Camilleri Aldo Moretti

Construction team: for St James Cavalier

Saviour Busuttil Patrick Cunningham Charles Ellul Joe Ellul Chris Gatt

Copyright © Malta Council for Culture and the Arts 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

Foreword

… self-portraits involve obvious conflicts of interest, that they may be less true to appearances than portraits. But they are not just portraits, for all that art history often treats them as a subset; and they often specialise in other kinds of truth … Laura Cumming

As long as the sun shines, there is no getting away from ourselves, says Laura Cumming, author of A face to the World. A concept echoed in Immanuel Mifsud’s essay. Our image is always reflected. This reflection may, sometimes, produce portraits. The word “portrait” comes from the Latin “portrahere,” translated as “to drag out, reveal, expose”, but how do artists choose to see and present themselves? How do they project themselves in their work and in their studio space? Do they bare all or rather hide themselves? How do they use their body in their work? The unusual freedom offered to artists by the dual roles of subject and creator allows the viewer a unique opportunity to see the artist represented in his or her own terms. Given this liberty, self-portraits

may reveal the most intimate truths, including the truth of how the artist wants to be seen by the world. Widely perceived, self-portraits verge from traditional representations where artists eyeball us with that uniquely intense gaze, even if they are just scrutinising their own reflection, to those where it’s only the trace that alludes to the artists’ presence. Artists have portrayed themselves for centuries. They wanted to record their appearance and identity as a memorial to themselves, ensuring a little immortality by their own skills, sometimes even taking on new identities. Self-portraiture is common practice at the beginning of an artist’s career, where it provides a ready model to practise skills. Albrecht Dürer used his image as self promotion. Others depict a process of self-examination, returning

to the subject over and over again as with Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Courbet, Kathe Kollwitz, our own Isabelle Borg amongst others. John Coplan chooses to show just parts of his body while works by Chuck Close, Sarah Lucas and Vibeke Tandberg show how a selfportrait can act as a mask, asserting multiple surfaces. Marc Quinn uses his own living material (blood) as a building block for his precarious immortality. Gilbert and George or Elke Krystufek use their image as the language, and Rebecca Horn or Oleg Kulik show us themselves as the medium itself. .. .. Wicc Imb Wicc is not an exhibition of classic selfportraiture but is an attempt at exploring a number of ways artists use their body to communicate, to say something about themselves, the relationship of the artists with their body and how they present their own persona. It aims at raising questions about how artists perceive themselves and in reflection or refraction express who they are, even if sometimes, in self scrutiny, they may only see a self image which may not necessarily be the ‘real’ self. It takes into account the notion of blindness, as in Jacques Derrida’s essay Memoirs of the Blind. Derrida argues that the blind artist draws from within and by a sense of touch, mainly in drawing. But also that ‘the desire of self-presentation is never met, it never meets up with itself, and that is when the simulacrum takes place’. This inability compliments other frameworks such as James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, a study of an individual presence, a fictionalised version of Joyce himself. Instead of capturing a single image, the novel shows its subject in separate moments across time and space where the portrait is an idea of referencing the singular presence. With this in mind, I invited practising contemporary foreign and local artists who, in their career, have

already dealt with the issue of self presentation to .. .. produce specific works on the subject. Wicc Imb Wicc oscillates between two foci, an established work from the National Collection and works by young unbridled creatives. The former, Giuseppe Hyzler’s self-portrait reveals the traditional theme of impersonation and presents a self-conscious assertion of the artist’s identity. It stands in opposition to work produced by children, who are not yet conscious of, or burdened by, their status as potential artists. This platform is stimulated by the inclusion of a celebrated work by Tracy Emin which, as in practically all her lifelong oeuvre, explores the complex game of mirror image and self promotion. The exhibition’s narrative aims at creating friction and connections between different works, where spectral representations shift to a view of how selfportraits embody the artist, not only by revealing the direct trace of the artist’s hand but also the personal imprint of bodily presence. The participating artists .. .. in Wicc Imb Wicc present a complex combination of attitudes to the self: mirrored representation plays an important aspect in the works of Hyzler and Emin mentioned earlier but is also part of the hyperreal work of Baseski, a classic interpretation which keeps absorbing questions brought forward by Baudrillard. In his quest for immortality, Briffa’s image keeps on ageing in its short duration, while Vella’s current practice of drawing from old photographs shows ambiguous interpretations of a particular moment in his existence. Calleja composes his image by using fractured tassels of his Facebook friends whereas Azzopardi presents his male and female image with numerous fragments from the totality of events that soaked his whole existence. Performance is the basis of Ljubicic, Riton and, tangently, de Beir’s work.

Whilst Ljubicic uses his body as the tool for the work, Riton expands her personal relationship conflicts by capturing herself and her ex-boyfriend on film rather than using actors, as she does in most of her cinematographic works. Notions of touch, imprint and trace are more present in De Beir and Harrison. The former uses her physique as a means to imprint her gesture becoming the actual representation of self-presence. The skin created is in contrast to how Harrison uses casts of her own skin to produce tiny furniture, parts of her own existence from the imprint of her own layer of osmosis. As in the case of Jim Dine where a favourite bathrobe stands in for the artist, von Brockdorff projects herself onto her immediate daily belongings. She tries to hide, but as opposed to her common practice, the objects are not staged. They become documents, authentic to their surroundings. The mirror or convex, concave and tearful gaze which we use to engage our own image never paints us in pure colours: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I am colorblind coffee black and egg whiteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Counting Crows, from the album This Desert Life

Austin Camilleri

Something’s Wrong, 2002 Appliqué blanket 200 X 154 cm British Council Collection

Tracey Emin

Tracey Emin’s femininity is the aspect of a highly successful career, that is focussed on both by her and by her critics in a way that would be unimaginable to male artists, despite similar practices using their own body as a life model. In Something’s Wrong (2002) the backwards letters draw attention to the idea of Emin drawing herself in a mirror, being able to see herself as others see her. This work relates back to an older piece, Terribly wrong (1997, Tate Collection), another monoprint in which a scribbled, indistinct liquid mass discharges from between a pair of legs open in the same posture. This pose is also seen in the photographic work I’ve got it all (2000, Saatchi Collection) showing Emin dressed in an expensive Vivienne Westwood dress, sweeping a pile of money into her crotch in the manner of a gambler who has won big. In Something’s Wrong an unknown liquid material fixes a mass of coins in place on the rough, patched, brown institutional blanket. There are Pfennigs and Centimes from past travels, but it is the British Pennies and the Turkish Lira that represent Emin’s past; her mother and father. Whatever this liquid is, it has Emin’s DNA in it. Whether the pose expresses ecstasy or agony is also ambiguous, leaving the focus on the legs and vagina. They define the female figure, and, in this work, comprise her only identity. (Text adapted from the British Council Art Collection)

Pictures Is the title of two twin photographs hanging at the entrance to the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition at the Ludwig Museum in Budapest. Dating to 1977, these two photos do not, as one would perhaps think, show Mapplethorpe’s face. Rather, both picture his right hand. The dichotomy proffered is blatant, the intimation equally obvious. The first photograph presents a ‘respectable’ shirted forearm with a rather old fashioned wristwatch - a forearm which could perhaps belong to any office worker with a 9 to 5 job. The second portrait on the other hand, whilst in the same exact pose, holding the same exact pen and writing the same exact word, presents a leather gloved hand with a wristlet and bracelet. This hand, one would think, would perhaps feel more at ease grasping a leather whip in an S&M bar rather than a fountain pen. The polarity which is implied through these two photographs exemplifies Mapplethorpe’s work but, I believe, also the treatment of self portraiture at large. That self portraiture deals with issues of identity is no secret. Which identity that is, however, is another issue altogether. Purgatory and Catharsis / Vanity and Immortality As a vehicle of self expression, self portraiture often comprises dense doses of trials, tribulations, and personal afflictions both physical and emotional. With examples ranging from Antoine Camilleri’s post-op works to, one could say the greater part of Frida Kahlo and Tracy Emin’s creations, it is perhaps easy to see how artists when seeking

to cleanse themselves of pain, use their art as a form of fetish object onto which negative energy is transposed and disposed of. In the case of both Kahlo and Emin but especially in Emin’s, identity also seeps through works which do not necessarily present and represent their maker in physical form. This object, such as Emin’s My Bed for example, reveals a lot about its author; possibly even more than any sketch, drawing or painting by the same hand ever could. Therefore, one wonders, is it at this instance, through the use of such readymade objects, that the artist, in self portrayal, can be found most candidly on display? Or is a work, no matter how personal, still a construed version of reality? Today, with a society geared and accustomed to faux-reality shows, people yearn for a peep into reality, no matter how real or fabricated it actually is. Therefore, I believe that a self portrait laying some form of emotion in full view, is probably the most likely to appeal and be taken seriously. It is perhaps, in today’s world far more real than, say a bust, or a frontal, quarter length portrait. The audience wants to see how and what the artist feels. Emotion and in some cases, one could say, a good dose of inner torment too, are key. Having said that however, is a self portrait not displaying some form of angst or other less of a self portrait than one which does? Where would Marc Quinn’s self portrait generally referred to as ‘Blood Head’ be placed in such a discussion? What could be more representational of an artist than his own (flesh and) blood?

If one were to take Rembrandt or Durer as an example, would their self portraits be any less relevant than, to stretch an example as far as possible, Nan Goldin’s Nan, One Month After Being Battered? If we leave Rembrandt and Durer behind us and focus let’s say on Andy Warhol and Pop, where does that leave the artist’s face? In Warhol’s case it could be described as a marketing tool, but in hindsight, does that make it all that different from Durer’s? What motivated Durer to paint his own face? Why was it that at age 28 Durer painted himself looking a lot like what it is imagined that Christ looked like? Can this be boiled down to sheer vanity? If that is the case, what to make of Jeff Koons’ 1991 self depictions with his then spouse Ilona Staller? Most of his Made In Heaven collection consists of him and ‘Cicciolina’ in a variety of explicit sexual acts spanning a variety of media. It is difficult to reconcile works such as these with more than a narcissistic desire to parade and celebrate egocentrism. The Artist Is Present On the other side of the spectrum from the egocentric artist, exists a very different species altogether; one which through the use of props, prosthesis, make up and the like, seems to detach the very self they represent from within the self portrait. The reference here is to such artists as Claude Cahun and Cindy Sherman. Both, very similarly (although Sherman to a much further extent), have used themselves as a canvas on which to play dress up and assume different roles and identities.

However, in adopting these roles and impersonating different characters, does a photo like Sherman’s or Cahun’s still classify as a self portrait? The artist here is very much like an actor on stage who takes on a role, and the purpose of an actor is certainly not that of presenting himself during a performance. The face of the artist might be a constant, however it is a different persona every time. From gender switching to, in Sherman’s case, impersonating roles ranging from Botticelli’s Judith to high society women, the key lies perhaps more in the field of performance than it does in self portraiture. Cahun and Sherman are not simply photographing themselves; they are staging and playing out a performance which is then recorded via stills. It is, as a matter of fact, in Performance Art that I believe lies the answer to the question regarding the authenticity of a self portrait. No matter how untouched a bed remains on the journey from bedroom to gallery or how many pints of blood it takes to make a mask, neither will ever come close to sitting a metre or so away from an artist in the flesh. I therefore believe that it is Marina Abramovic through her performance, The Artist Is Present, who has managed to exhibit the ultimate self portrait: herself.

Fabrizio Mifsud Soler

Giuseppe Hyzler (1793-1858), “Self-Portrait” 1821 Oil on canvas With frame: 57 x 67 cm

Giuseppe Hyzler

National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta Inv. No. 551-2. Courtesy of Heritage Malta

Giuseppe Hyzler was a 19th Century painter and a catholic monk, member of the ‘Nazarener’ brotherhood which led a communal life in the deserted monastery of San Isodoro – an Irish Franciscan Church and College founded in the 16th century, in the neighbourhood of Pincio in Rome. The brotherhood wore wide cloaks and kept their hair long. Hyzler presents himself in the Nazarener habit, against a landscape with trees and the domes of two churches in the background. He looks back at us through time and the artificial window of a framed painting, having constructed a piece firmly grounded in the prevalent denotations of self-portraiture. One may ask how much ‘truth’ is really conveyed in this image. How often do we suspect that he was striking a pose of tranquil observation in a sacral landscape? What we’re presented with is a representation of Hyzler in a deliberate manner – the way he wants posterity to remember him.

“DAN HU ÌISMI”

“THIS IS MY BODY”

Kienu qeg˙din iqattg˙u l-a˙˙ar lejla flimkien. L-g˙ada filg˙odu kellu jitlaq fuq vja©© twil u perikoluΩ. Hi kellha d-dmug˙ f’g˙ajnejha. Kienet qieg˙da tiftakar lejliet o˙rajn b˙al din, g˙ad-dawl tal-musbie˙, meta qlubhom kienu mqanqla mod ie˙or. Hi t˙ares lejh tara warajh id-dell tieg˙u fiss mal-˙ajt u fid-daqqa u l-˙in taqbad biçça fa˙ma u tg˙addi l-linja mad-dell biex t˙alli mal-˙ajt l-impronta tal-ma˙bub tag˙ha ˙alli tibqa’ t˙ares lejh anki meta jkun ’il bog˙od minnha.

They were spending the last night together. On the following morning he had to leave on a long and perilous voyage. She was tearful. She was taken back to other nights like these, when their hearts were engaged otherwise, aroused, basking in lamplight. Upon gazing at him, she sees his shadow behind and all of a sudden snatches a nugget of coal and traces his shade, in order to leave the imprint of her lover so she would still look at him, even when he is far away.

Din il-lejla, ippreΩentata fi kwadri mag˙rufin ta’ David Allan (1775), Jean Baptiste Regnault (1785), u Joseph Benoit Suvée (1791) fost ˙afna o˙rajn, hija l-okkaΩjoni meta, skont Plinju l-Kbir f’Historia Naturalis, ori©inat it-tpin©ija. Kellha tkun lejla ta’ qsim il-qalb, u l-im˙abba kbira ta’ tfajla g˙all-©uvni tag˙ha, biex il-bniedem jiskopri t-tpin©ija. Skont il-le©©enda, l-ewwel graffit, anzi l-ewwel biçça xog˙ol artistika, kienet ta’ figura umana.

This night, presented in well-known frames by David Allan (1775), Jean Baptiste Regnault (1785), and Joseph Benoit Suvée (1791) amongst many others, is the occasion when, according to Pliny the Elder in Historia Naturalis, the drawing was born. It had to be a night of heartbreak, and the great love a girl bore towards her boyfriend, in order for humanity to discover the painting. According to legend, the first graffiti, indeed the first work of art, was of a human figure.

Kull filg˙odu nqumu n˙arsu lejn ©isem: narawh i˙ares lejna mill-mera; narawh malli nistenb˙u ma©enbu; malli naraw il-©ar ˙iere© biex imur g˙ax-xog˙ol jew lin-nies jivvja©©aw fil-karozzi, fuq tal-linja; narawh malli n˙arsu lejn il-kollegi fuq il-post tax-xog˙ol; narawh f’tant okkaΩjonijiet mondani li jirrakkontawlna l-istorja ta’ kuljum. Ma’ din il-lista ta’ i©sma rridu nΩidu l-preΩentaturi fuq il-televixin; l-atturi fil-films li naraw; ir-ritratti tar-riklami statiçi jew jiççaqilqu; il-monumenti;

Every morning we rise up looking at a body: we see it staring back at us from a mirror; we see it when we wake up beside it; when we see our neighbour going to work or commuters travelling in cars, on the bus; we see it when we look upon our colleagues at work; we see it in so many mundane occasions that recite the same story every day. To this list of bodies we have to add the people who host shows on television; film actors; the photographs of static or moving

l-istatwi u r-ritratti. L-aktar viΩwal prominenti huwa l-figura umana u allura wie˙ed jifhem g˙ala huwa l-istess viΩwal li jiddomina d-diskors tag˙na fil-forma ta’ ˙sieb, konverΩazzjoni, letteratura, arti viΩiva, u forom o˙rajn ta’ komunikazzjoni. Mill-figuri preistoriçi m˙arbxa, imnaqqxa u skolpiti sa dawk di©itali fuq il-©ugarelli elettroniçi; mir-rakkonti mitolo©içi u l-kotba sagri antiki sar-rapport fuq il-partita li ntlag˙bet il-biera˙ filg˙axija, il-korp uman jokkupa l-aktar post çentrali. Malli l-bniedem inteba˙ li g˙andu ©isem, ˙a deçiΩjoni lo©ika li hu huwa dak il-©isem, u hu x’inhu s-su©©ett tad-diskors tieg˙u, fl-a˙˙ar milla˙˙ar kull konkluΩjoni se tikkonçerna l-interess antik tieg˙u fil-korp uman – tieg˙u u tal-o˙rajn. Jean Starobinski jikkummenta li r-realtà korporali kienet l-ewwel g˙arfien li kiseb il-bniedem, u b’xhieda ta’ dan jikkwota l-vers mill-Ìenesi “U nfet˙u g˙ajnejhom it-tnejn u nteb˙u li kienu g˙erja” (Ìen 3: 7). Minn dak il-punt ’l hawn, ikompli Starobinski, saret xi ˙a©a impossibbli li ninjoraw il-©isem. 3 Mela huwa inevitabbli li naraw dawn l-i©sma kollha, b˙alma huwa inevitabbli li nitkellmu dwarhom, na˙sbu fihom. IΩda din l-inevitabilità mhijiex piΩ li jtaqqalna. Anzi. Çertu ˙ajjat minn Coventry kiser regola imposta fuq il-popolazzjoni kollha meta s-Sinjura Godiva ˙ar©et taqsam il-belt fuq dahar iΩ-Ωiemel tag˙ha mneΩΩg˙a. Suppost kellu jsakkar il-bieb tad-dar, jg˙atti t-twieqi u joqg˙od mag˙luq sa ma s-Sinjura tasal fit-tarf l-ie˙or tal-belt. Imma dan il-˙ajjat taqqab toqba Ωg˙ira fil-˙ajt, ka˙˙al g˙ajnejh mag˙ha u qag˙ad i˙ares. U ˙a gost b’dak li ra, l-istess kif ˙a gost Óam meta da˙al f’g˙arix missieru Noè rieqed g˙eri wara xarba nbid tajba, u kif ˙a gost Akteon jara lil Artemis tin˙asel f’g˙adira. Il-figura umana aktarx li tibqa’ l-isba˙ xbieha li nistg˙u n˙arsu lejha, minkejja li narawha u ng˙ixuha kuljum. Hemm il-gost fil-˙arsa lejn il-©isem, jikteb Freud, u dan il-gost ma nibdluh ma’ xejn, akkost li jista’ jwe©©a’: il-˙ajjat miet mewta zoptu, Óam ©ibed fuqu s-sa˙ta tal-familja, u Akteon inbidel f’çerva.

adverts; monuments; statues and photos. The most striking and important visual is that of the human figure and therefore one might understand how the same visual dominates our discourse in the forms of thought, conversation, literature, visual art, and other modes of communication. From the first prehistoric figures, scrawled, carved and sculpted to their digital counterparts in electronic toys; from mythological tales and ancient sacred books, to the latest report on the game which took place yesterday evening, the human body is at centre stage. When humans became aware of their bodies, they took the logical decision that, regardless of the subject of their discourse, they epitomise that body and that at the end of the day every conclusion will be concerned with their old interest in the human body – their own and that of others. Jean Starobinski remarks that corporeal reality was the first knowledge acquired by humanity, and in proof of this he quotes this verse from the Book of Genesis “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked” (Gen 3: 7). Starobinski goes on to say that from that particular point in time it became impossible for us to take no heed of the body. 3 Therefore, since we cannot escape all these bodies, it is inevitable that we end up talking about them: they take root in our thoughts. Yet this inevitability does not weigh us down. Quite the opposite. A certain tailor from Coventry broke a rule imposed upon the entire population when Lady Godiva crossed the city on horseback, naked. He was supposed to lock the front door, cover up the windows and stay put till the Lady arrived at the other side of the city. But this tailor made a peeping hole in the wall, latched his eyes onto it and stared on. He took pleasure in what he saw as Ham took pleasure when he went into Noah’s tent and saw him, his father, asleep and naked after becoming drunk on wine, as Actaeon took pleasure when he saw Artemis bathing in a spring. Most probably, the human figure remains the most beautiful image we can set our eyes upon, in spite

L-istess b˙al Narçissu, miskin, li ˙a gost i˙ares lejn ix-xbieha t˙ares lejh mill-wiçç tal-ilma u ntilef tant li nesa jitrejjaq, u miet.

Il-gost li tag˙tina x-xbieha tal-©isem uman hu kbir tant li je˙ti©ilna nesprimuh: hekk g˙amel l-artist li skolpa l-mara l-˙oxna li raqdet fiddlam tal-Ipo©ew u l-artisti kollha li ©ew warajh. Dawn urew il-©isem f’kull forma, f’kull qag˙da u sitwazzjoni. G˙alkemm il-forom mixtieqa jvarajaw minn perjodu g˙al ie˙or, fl-essenza baqg˙et wa˙da x-xewqa: il-©isem uman. Hemm forom differenti, naturalment, u xewqat differenti wkoll. Hemm l-i©sma sbie˙, b’suriet atletiçi (anki jekk sfigurati) ta’ xi Michelangelo, dawk eΩotiçi/ erotiçi li g˙andhom is-setg˙a jqanqlu lil min i˙ares lejhom ta’ xi Gaugin jew de Lempicka, ilfiguri tal-eroj (aktar milli erojini) tal-Antikwità u r-RealiΩmu Soçjalista, il-metaforizzazzjoni talvirtujiet ta’ xi Klimt, il-figuri sagri tal-allat Griegi, E©izzjani u Nsara u ta’ karattri ‘dubjuΩi’ ta’ xi Toulouse-Lautrec. Dan il-gost, iΩda, mhuwiex bis-sabi˙ biss. Il-kruha ti©bed l-g˙ajn daqs il-©miel. Ìisem ikrah g˙andu s-setg˙a j©eg˙elna n˙arsu lejh daqs wie˙ed sabi˙, u sa˙ansitra n˙obbuh. B˙al Shakespeare u d-dama s-sewda tas-sunetti tieg˙u: In the old age black was not counted fair, Or if it were, it bore not beauty’s name; But now is black beauty’s successive heir, And beauty slandered with a bastard shame: Jew Shelley, ispirat mill-Medusa ta’ “da Vinci”: “It’s horror and it’s beauty are divine”. Il-©isem l-ikrah jimmeΩmerizza daqs dak sabi˙. Jing˙ad li meta Dostojevski ra xog˙ol Holbein iΩ-Ûg˙ir Kristu Mejjet fil-Qabar, b’dik il-figura timbuttak, speçjalment il-wiçç bl-g˙ajnejn u l-˙alq miftu˙a tal-katavru ta’ Kristu, ˙arstu n©ibdet tant li ma setax jiççaqlaq mnejn kien u kellha tkun l-insistenza ta’ martu, beΩg˙ana li jag˙tih xi attakk epilettiku, biex finalment jaqla’ ˙arstu mill-kwadru u jibqa’ miexi. L-istess effett jafu j˙alluh l-awtoritratti massivi ta’ Jenny Saville, figuri ta’ i©sma mmarkati, jew ix-xbihat ripulsivi

of the fact that we look upon it and live it daily. Freud writes about the pleasure of looking at a body, such pleasure that has no substitute, in spite of the fact that it can be harmful: the tailor dropped dead, Ham drew a curse upon him and his family and Actaeon was transformed into a stag. Take Narcissus for instance, the poor thing. He was so enamoured with his own reflection gazing back at him from the river that lost as he was, forgot to take sustenance and died. The pleasure which our own image gives us is so great that we need to express it: the artist who sculpted the fat lady sleeping in the darkness of the hypogeum did so as did all the artists who came after him. They showed the body in all its myriad forms, in every posture and situation. Although from time to time the desired forms change, that selfsame desire has retained its singularity: the human body. Naturally, there are different forms, even different desires. One can find beautiful bodies by Michelangelo, athletic in their form (even if disfigured), others which are exotic/erotic by Gaugin or de Lempicka which have the power to titillate anyone who beholds them, the figure of the hero (more than the heroine) of Antiquity or Socialist Realism, the metaphorisation of the virtues by Klimt, the sacred figures of the Greek, Egyptian and Christian deities and the ‘dubious’ characters by Toulouse-Lautrec. This pleasure though, does not limit itself to the beautiful. Ugliness catches the eye as much as beauty. A hideous body compels us to behold it, even love it, as much as a beautiful one. Take Shakespeare and the black dame in one of his sonnets: In the old age black was not counted fair, Or if it were, it bore not beauty’s name; But now is black beauty’s successive heir, And beauty slandered with a bastard shame: Or Shelley, inspired by “da Vinci’s” Medusa: “It’s horror and it’s beauty are divine”. The hideous body mesmerises as much as its beautiful counterpart. It is said that when Dostoevsky beheld the work of Holbein the

ta’ Andres Serrano bid-dmija menstruwali u sperma, b’xi kurçifiss jg˙um fl-awrina. L-ikrah huwa sabi˙ daqs il-©miel; il-figura diΩgustanti tag˙ti gost. 4 Hemm ukoll id-diskors dwar l-im˙abba tal©isem. Minbarra l-appelli mediçi li g˙andna nie˙du ˙sieb sa˙˙itna biex kemm jista’ jkun intawlu ˙ajjitna u ng˙ixuha tajjeb, hemm diskorsi li l-punt tat-tluq tag˙hom huwa speçifikament estetiku. Meta wie˙ed i˙obb lil ©ismu, fl-a˙˙ar mill-a˙˙ar, qieg˙ed i˙obb lilu nnifsu ©aladarba l-bniedem huwa ©ismu. Imqar il-karta talidentità, il-passaport, jirriproduçu x-xbieha ta’ ©isimna, g˙ax dak il-©isem huwa a˙na. Imma dan mhuwiex biΩΩejjed g˙ax nafu li l-©isem tag˙na huwa o©©ett espost li jinqabad, anki ming˙ajr ma rridu, mill-˙arsa tal-Ie˙or, ta’ dak li mhuwiex ©isimna, mill-˙arsa ta’ ©isem ie˙or. Il©isem huwa o©©ett estetiku u b˙ala tali qieg˙ed iΩejjen. U b˙ala tali jrid jiΩΩejjen. Dan il-©isem jitfewwa˙, jinΩebag˙, jitlibbes kostumi differenti g˙al okkaΩjonijiet speçifiçi, jindilek biex jisbie˙, jitpin©a, jittaqqab, jingiref, jitnaqqax, jindarab g˙all-gost, g˙as-sbu˙ija mqar kerha, basta min i©orru j˙ossu tajjeb u j˙ossu hu u j˙ossu komdu meta jaf li hemm i©sma o˙rajn i˙arsu lejh. Il©isem, g˙aldaqstant, mhuwiex biss dokument ta’ identità imma biçça xog˙ol artistika li tinbidel g˙ax hija fluwida u malleabbli. Il-©isem huwa tila li fuqha npin©u dak li jidhrilna, huwa espressjoni ta’ sentimenti u ˙sibijiet. U dan ji©ri anki waqt li, ironikament kif ©ibdilna l-attenzjoni ˙afna drabi Foucault, il-©isem qieg˙ed ji©i re©imentat u ddixplinat minn forzi normattivi li jag˙fsu fuqu waqt li huwa jirreΩisti, ifittex li jiΩgiçça mill-morsa u b’hekk jer©a’ jivvinta lilu nnifsu mill-©did. 5 Narçissu, mela, intilef wara d-dehra tieg˙u. Óasra li ˙dejn l-g˙adira ilma fejn iltaqa’ ma’ xbihitu u spiçça meΩmerizzat, ma kienx hemm daqsxejn kulur u tila. Din l-isfortuna jpattu g˙aliha l-artisti

Younger, The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb, with that off-putting figure, especially the face with its glazed eyes and open mouth of Christ’s corpse, his gaze was so drawn to the picture that he could not move. It had to be on his wife’s insistence, afraid that an epileptic attack would be triggered, that he finally drew his gaze away and continued walking. The same effect may be experienced by the massive self-portraits of Jenny Saville, figures of marked bodies, or Andres Serrano’s repulsive depictions of menstrual blood and semen, with some crucifix floating in urine. That which is hideous is as beautiful as beauty; the figure of disgust gives pleasure. 4 There is also the discourse pertaining to the love of the body. Apart from any medical advice which implores us to take care of ourselves, thus ensuring our longevity when leading a healthy lifestyle, there are discourses whose point of departure is specifically tied down to the aesthetic. Ultimately, when someone loves their own body, they love themselves since the sum of humanity is its own body. Even the identity card and the passport reproduce an image of our own body, because that body is us. But that is not enough since we know that our body is an object exposed to be captured, even without our consent, by the gaze of the other, and that which is not our body, the gaze of the other body. The body is an item, an object of aesthetic value and as such is decorative. As such it wants to be adorned, embellished. This body is perfumed, pampered with make-up, is dressed in different costumes for specific occasions, has creams applied for purposes of beauty, tattooed, pierced, scratched, carved, wounded for pleasure, all for beauty which may look hideous, provided that the bodies of whoever are a canvas for all this feel good, feel themselves, and feel at ease when they know that other bodies are looking at them. Therefore, the body is not only a document pertaining to our identity but a work of art, ever shifting and changing since it is flowing and malleable. The body is a canvas upon which we

li fost l-i©sma li pin©ew kien hemm tag˙hom stess. Óafna huma dawk l-artisti li pin©ew lil ©isimhom, lihom infushom. B˙al Narçissu raw l-arti fix-xbieha tag˙hom, u b˙alu riedu jkunu jafu min hi dik ix-xbieha t˙ares lejhom. L-artist isir l-arti tieg˙u stess. IΩda l-©isem huwa wkoll l-innifsi. Kull darba li t-tfajla li vvintat it-tpin©ija t˙ares lejn l-iskizz tal-ma˙bub fuq il-˙ajt ma tarax biss il-forma tieg˙u imma taqra narrattiva s˙i˙a, ir-rakkont tieg˙u, tag˙ha u tag˙hom. Jekk kien hemm artisti li pin©ew lilhom infushom b’dettall hekk fin li ppreçedew il-kamera tar-ritratti, kien hemm dawk li fuq it-tila ma fittxewx id-dehra daqskemm l-essenza ©ewwenija tag˙hom; riedu, fi kliem ie˙or, jikkonkretizzaw l-astratt, jo˙or©u dak li qieg˙ed xi mkien ©ewwa. U allura jidher Dürer fix-xbieha ta’ Kristu, u Kahlo tal-istess wiçç tidher dejjem mara differenti. L-artist jilbes il-kostum mhux tant biex jag˙mel maskerada daqskemm biex jiskopri lilu nnifsu u jinçita l-˙arsa biex tist˙arre© hija wkoll. Din in-narrattiva konfessjonali, b˙al tal-poeti li ddeçidew li jift˙u ˙alqhom u jperrçu l-intern, l-innifsi, ˙afna drabi tie˙u l-forma ta’ performance. Jidher li f’çertu punt l-artist ried aktar milli setg˙u jag˙tuh it-tila u l-pinzell u minflok ma innamra max-xbieha bidel lilu nnifsu fi programm, fi pro©ett li jirrakkonta t-tiftix tal-innifsi. L-artist riedna n˙arsu lejh, lejn ©ismu biex ninterpretawh. G˙aldaqstant il-©isem isir ukoll konfessjoni: nistqarr lilkom, g˙ajnejn imberr˙a, li jien dak li qeg˙din taraw, dak li qed nurikom. Id-dokument tal-artist isir il-pjança li fuqha r-ra©©i-X jirre©istraw dak li hemm mo˙bi, mag˙luq ta˙t il-©ilda li tag˙laq kollox, li ΩΩomm kollox ©ewwa. Mhux ta’ b’xejn li l-arti fis-seklu g˙oxrin tat importanza kbira lill-orifizi: Samuel Beckett juri biss ˙alq f’Not I; Annie Sprinkler tifta˙ saqajha u tistieden ’l-udjenza tag˙ha tittawwal ©ewwa, ©o fiha, bl-ispekulum jifta˙ha bera˙; Robert Mapplethorpe jidderie©i l-˙arsa tal-ispettatur lejn il-fet˙a anali tieg˙u bilmanku ta’ frosta mdeffes fiha; Shikego Kubota tpitter b’pinzell affiss mal-va©ina. L-orifizju huwa l-fet˙a fil-©isem, id-da˙la g˙at-tempju li normalment huwa msakkar sew u mg˙asses tajjeb. IΩda t-tendenzi konfessjonisti, jew forsi

paint all that which pleases us. It is an expression of feelings and thought. And this comes to be even when ironically, as Foucault points out on many occasions, the body is being drilled and disciplined by normative forces which press down on it while it resists, seeks to escape the vice holding it pinched and thus reinvents itself anew. 5 So then, Narcissus was enthralled by his reflection. It’s a pity that there was no paint and canvas upon the river bank where he met his own likeness in the water and ended up being mesmerised. All artists who have painted their own bodies amongst others have paid for this misfortune. Many are those artists who have painted pictures of their own bodies, of themselves. As with Narcissus, they saw art in their own image, and like him they wanted to know who, in that image, was staring back at them. Artists become their own art. But the body is also the self, one’s own. Every time the girl who created a drawing, looks at the sketch of her lover upon the wall, she does not only see his form but reads an entire narrative, his narration, hers and theirs. If there were artists who painted their own images with such fine detail that they preceded the photo camera, there were those who did not search for their own image on the canvas as much as their quintessence; in other words they wanted to concretise the abstract, draw out that which dwells inside. And so we may find Dürer in his image of Christ and Kahlo, despite being the same woman, always seems different. The artist does not wear a costume for a masquerade as much as for a tour of self-discovery and in addition stirs up the gaze for examination. This confessional narrative, akin to that of poets who decide to open their mouths and divulge their inner self, often takes the form of a performance. It seems that at some point, the artist wanted more than the sum of the canvas and paintbrush and instead of becoming besotted with the image, changed the self into a program, in a project which tells of the search for the self. The artists wanted us to look at them, at their bodies so that we might interpret them. Therefore the

esibizzjonisti (g˙aliex le?) jift˙u ’l-©isem bera˙ ˙alli l-ispettaturi j˙arsu u jaraw iΩjed milli l-arti aktar bikrija kienet lesta turi. 6 Fost il-˙afna fenomeni artistiçi li jikkaratterizzaw is-seklu li g˙adda hemm l-isfukar bejn ©eneru u ie˙or. Il-pittur u l-iskultur isiru attur u l-arti ti©i espressa f’avveniment performattiv. Wara kollox, kif indikat sew fis-seklu g˙oxrin, l-identità individwali hija performance minnha nfisha. Malli t-tila ma baqg˙etx tabbasta lill-artist u l-©isem g˙arwien impin©i bil-pinzellati jew iffurmat bl-iskalpell baqa’ ma ji˙ux nifs u ma jitkellimx, l-artist iddeçieda li l-pass li jmiss kellu jkun li jibdel lil ©ismu stess fi strument u b’hekk it-tila u l-ir˙ama ˙adu l-˙ajja. Il-©isem (tal-artist) sar strument ta’ espressjoni u esperimentazzjoni, kif jindika x-xog˙ol, fost l-o˙rajn, ta’ Marina Abramovic. IΩda jkun Ωball jekk na˙sbu li dan kien eΩerçizzju ‘sempliçiment’ esibizzjonista. Fil-fond nett tal-kxif tal-©isem u anki tal-intern tieg˙u, hemm dejjem it-tendenza konfessjonista. Aktarx li dan huwa s-sens wara xog˙lijiet b˙al ta’ Carolee Schneemann li to˙ro© l-iskroll (innarrazzjoni tag˙ha) minn ©ol-va©ina jew ta’ Keith Boadwee li t-tiΩli© fuq it-tila (reminexxenti ta’ Jackson Pollock) jipproduçih billi jispara Ω-Ωebg˙a minn ©or-rectum. Dan il-˙ru© ’il barra, din l-espressjoni tindika l-ossessjoni tal-arti li tesponi mhux biss dak li normalment huwa mg˙otti imma dak li huwa midfun. L-artist issa ried jesprimi minn ©ewwa, u l-a˙jar mezz biex jag˙mel dan kien ©ismu stess. Tant mhuwiex biss eΩerçizzju esibizzjonista, li l-artist ˙ass il-˙tie©a li jistqarr pubblikament ilkruha ta’ dan il-©isem b˙ala o©©ett temporali u definit. Fl-Antikwità l-artist irriproduça l-©isem b˙ala xbieha sabi˙a fil-figuri tal-allat u l-atleti, l-istess kif g˙amlu l-artisti tas-seklu dsatax u l-ewwel fotografi b˙al Wilhelm von Gloeden u ˙afna o˙rajn li ppubblikaw ˙emel ta’ kartolini pornografiçi. IΩda l-©isem g˙andu wkoll ilkwalitajiet abjetti tieg˙u: il-˙mie©, il-mard, il-mewt. Il-konfessjoni tamar li l-©isem jidher ikrah ukoll,

body becomes a confession: I confess to you, eyes wide open, that I am what you see, that which I am showing you. The artist’s document becomes the plate upon which X-rays reveal that which is hidden, enclosed beneath the skin which encloses all, which keeps everything within. It is not surprising then that the art of the twentieth century gave such importance to the orifice: only a mouth is revealed by Samuel Beckett in Not I; Annie Sprinkler spreads her legs and invites the audience to take a look in, inside her, the speculum forcing her wide open; Robert Mapplethorpe directs the spectator’s gaze to his anal cavity into which the handle of a whip is inserted; Shikego Kubota paints with a paintbrush affixed to her vagina. The orifice is the cavity in the body, the entrance to a temple which under usual circumstance is kept locked and guarded. Nevertheless confessional or maybe exhibitionist tendencies (why not?), open up the body so that the spectators may look on and see more than earlier art was prepared to show. 6 Amongst the many artistic phenomena that characterise the previous century is the blurring of genres. The painter and the sculptor become actors and art is expressed in a performance. After all, as indicated in the twentieth century, individual identity is a performance in its own right. When the canvas does not satisfy the artist and the figure of the nude painted in brushstrokes or shaped by a chisel fails to draw breath and does not speak, the artists decided that the next step was to change their own bodies into a device and then life was breathed into the canvas and marble. The body (of the artist) became a device of expression and experimentation, as seen by the work of, amongst others, Marina Abramovic. Nevertheless, it would be an oversight on our part were we to think that this was ‘simply’ an exhibitionist exercise. There is always a confessional tendency deep within the baring of the body and its innards. Most probably this might have been the rationale behind works such as Carolee Schneemann’s who draws out a scroll (her narration) from her vagina or that

anki l-g˙aliex il-kruha, ma ninsewx, tqanqal daqs il-©miel. Il-konfessjoni tas-seklu g˙oxrin po©©iet ir-rikjesta g˙all-‘verità’ u g˙aldaqstant il-©isem ma baqax neçessarjament sabi˙ u preΩentabbli. Fl-ossessjoni li l-korp uman, anzi l-korp tal-artist innifsu, jkun dokument ta’ stqarrija u tiftixa g˙al identità fluwida (anki g˙ax temporali) l-artist iddokumenta n-na˙at inqas erotiçi, inqas estetiçi tal-la˙am. It-trasgressjoni ta’ Mapplethorpe kellha tag˙ti spazju g˙all-awtoxbihat ta’ ©isem marid bl-AIDS, u l-immudellar erotiku ta’ Hannah Wilke jittrasforma ru˙u f’serje ta’ awtoritratti ta’ Wilke tmut bil-limfoma. Il-konfessjoni totali ta’ ©isem li huwa l-innifsi. 7 IΩda jekk it-tila ma abbastatx lill-artist li dejjem ifittex li jikber u jkabbar il-viΩjoni, g˙al u˙ud lanqas il-©isem innifsu mhuwa biΩΩejjed. Dan huwa l-kaΩ aktar ma wie˙ed jikkonvinçi ru˙u li l-identità mhijiex ritratt me˙ud, stampat u kkonservat darba g˙al dejjem, u lanqas m’hi fatt. L-identità hija narrazzjoni jew a˙jar possibilitajiet infiniti ta’ narrazzjonijiet differenti. Jekk il-©isem huwa l-jien, u l-jien huwa fluwidu, allura anki l-©isem kellu jitqies b˙ala o©©ett li ma jistax ji©i ffissat. Jekk l-identità hija performance tant ie˙or huwa l-©isem. X’ji©ri jekk minflok Ωew© widnejn ikollok tlieta, bit-tielet wa˙da mwa˙˙la fuq drieg˙ek b˙alma kellu Stelarc? U flok Ωew© dirg˙ajn ikollok tlieta wkoll? X’ji©ri meta l-i©sma jsiru cyborgs? Il-fantaxjenza, il-filosofija postumana, it-teknolo©izzazzjoni tal-˙ajja ta’ kuljum ˙allew l-impronta tag˙hom ukoll fuq il©isem u allura fuq l-innifsi. Jekk dak li stenba˙t ma©enbu dalg˙odu ltqajt mieg˙u l-biera˙ fil-bar, x’aktarx ma tafx huwiex cyborg: ma tafx g˙andux strument elettroniku midfun f’sidru jΩommu ˙aj. U dak il-©ar li dalg˙odu rajtu ˙iere© biex imur g˙ax-xog˙ol jaf g˙andu impjant elettroniku f’g˙ajnejh li bis-sa˙˙a tieg˙u rak issellimlu u sellimlek lura. Ma tafx kemm kien hemm minn dawk l-i©sma li rajthom jivvja©©aw dalg˙odu fil-karozzi, fuq tal-linja, jew

of Keith Boadwee whose daubing on a canvas (reminiscent of Jackson Pollock) was achieved by ejecting paint from his rectum. This discharge, this expression indicates the obsession of art with exposing not only that which is covered, but that which is entombed. The artists wanted to express their inner selves and the best way to do that was through their own bodies as a medium. It is not only an exercise in exhibitionism, so much so that the artist felt the need to state the ugliness of this body in public as something temporary and definite. In Antiquity, the artist reproduced the body as a beautiful image in the figures of gods and athletes, in the same manner of the artists from the nineteenth century and the first photographs like Wilhelm von Gloeden and many others who published no end of pornographic postcards. Nevertheless, the body has its own abject qualities: filth, disease, death. The confession decrees that the body is as hideous even because ugliness, lest we forget, titillates as much as beauty. The confession of the twentieth century put forward the request for ‘truth’ and consequently the human body did not necessarily remain beautiful and presentable. With the obsession that the human body, particularly that of the artist, is a declaration of intent and a search for a shifting identity (even if temporary), the artist kept a record of the less erotic, less aesthetic aspects of the flesh. Mapplethorpe’s transgression had to give space for the self-imagery of a body riddled with AIDS and Hannah Wilke’s erotic modelling was transformed into a series of self-photographs about Wilke dying from lymphoma. The absolute confession of a body which is the self. 7 While the canvas is not enough for artists who always seek to grow and to widen their perspective, there are other artists for whom not even the body is enough. This is the case when people convince themselves that identity is neither a photograph, taken, printed and preserved forever, nor a fact. Identity is a narration or better still infinite possibilities of different narrations. If the body is

kemm mill-kollegi tieg˙ek, kabbru jew çekknu sidirihom, g˙andhom xag˙ar artifiçjali fuq rashom, amplifikatur imdeffes f’widnejhom jew snien tat-titanju f’˙alqhom. U allura, kif tinnota Piccinini, il-linja bejn in-naturali u l-artifiçjali tisfoka ru˙ha. Kuljum nitkellmu mal-kompjuter, nie˙du ˙sieb iç-çellulari daqs li kien it-tifel tag˙na jew ˙una Ω-Ωg˙ir u forsi nisimg˙u l-MP3 player aktar milli nisimg˙u lis-sie˙eb tag˙na, u fil-karozza, meta nkunu t-tnejn flimkien aktarx nag˙tu kas aktar il-le˙en minn ©or-radju milli le˙en xulxin.

the self, myself and that self is ever-shifting, then even the body has to be considered as an object which cannot be pinned down. If identity is a performance, then so is the body. What happens when instead of two ears you have three, with the third ear protruding from your arm like Stelarc? Or instead of two arms you’ll end up with three as well? What happens when our bodies become cyborgs? Science fiction, posthuman philosophy, and the technologisation of everyday life have all left their imprint on our body and consequently our psyche.

Il-©isem huwa strument, u l-istrument sar il-©isem tag˙na.

If you met that person sleeping next to you last night at the bar, most probably you will not know if said person is a cyborg: you would not know if they have an electronic device buried in their chests which keeps them animated. And that neighbour, the one you saw going out this morning on his way to work, maybe he has an augmetic implant in his eyes which enabled him to see you and return your greeting. You would not know how many of these bodies whom you saw commuting this morning in their cars, buses, or even amongst your colleagues, have increased or decreased their cup size, have artificial hair on their heads, an amplifier inserted in their ears or titanium teeth in their mouths. And so, as Piccinini notes, the line between the natural and the artificial becomes blurred. Every day we speak to a computer, take care of our mobile phones as if they were our children or our younger siblings or we might listen to music from our MP3 player more than we listen to our friends and when driving, when we are both together, we might take heed of that voice coming out of the radio more than each other’s voice. Our body is a device and the device has become our body.

Immanuel Mifsud translated by Mark-Anthony Fenech

On the 23rd of May at midday, the curator of this exhibition introduced himself to second year pupils at Laura Vicuna Primary School in Ghasri, Gozo and invited them to draw or paint a picture of themselves.

According to recent research, creativity declines drastically around age seven. The aim of this exercise was to present works produced by individuals not yet subject to social

consciousness. Despite being ‘free’ from social uniformity, it is noted that some of their works resemble each other in composition. This was a result of the indirect influence exerted by the children’s close proximity to their friends during the session.

curated by Austin Camilleri

Samskara (Burn No.3) 2012 mixed media 80 x 50 x 42cm

John Paul Azzopardi Born in 1978 in East London, England. At age 19 he obtained a diploma in electrical engineering. After working for several years he returned to his studies and obtained his B.A. (hons) degree in Philosophy at the University of Malta in 2008. He started exhibiting work in 2004, and had his first — solo show, Hlejqiet in 2006. In 2010 he participated in several collective shows such as New Generation at the Malta Contemporary Arts Foundation and also took part in competitions hosted by the Malta Society of Arts, Manufacturers, and Commerce. In 2011, Heritage Malta hosted Curved Silence at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta. John Paul’s work deals mainly with structures functioning within a search for a contemporary aesthetic which is informed by philosophical and existential contexts. His constructs mount different materials, which vary extensively both in form and age thus constructing an informed confrontation between the synthetic and the organic, it is in this context that the mixed medium becomes a bricolage of notions, which are embedded in mythology, history and modernity whilst confronting themselves with contemporary concerns, narratives and texts within the same structure.

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Samskara (Burn No.1) 2011 mixed media 87 x 30 x 30cm

– Samskara ), sam . – ( . meaning ‘totality’ and s+kara meaning ‘put together’. The sanskrit term refers mainly to the totality of impressions that become stamped in our psyche and shapes our character, possess our being, moulding our thinking patterns, behaviours and reactions. The realm of Samskara . – relates to Freud’s studies of neurosis, and his theories on the butchering bondage of instability. Negative experiences produce seeds that grow like plant creepers or parasites, taking over our being and paralysing our experience of life. Once these seeds are allowed to stabilise, neurosis takes control of our rationalising faculties. The artist presents his being as the totality that shaped him, a diary of meaningful objects. The materials are collected from all areas of his life, be it working sites, trekking, travelling etc. He preserves his life journey from undergoing complete erasure (forgetfulness) by assembling the collected materials which represent his thinking experience. This serves as a thesis for personal understanding which guides him throughout his journey. Since the experience is now objectified, the deferment of past evaluation creates new existential meaning in thought and value. This process of death and rebirth creates higher personal significance which can eventually take oneself closer to our silent centre.

Self Portrait 2009/10 polyester resin, fiberglass, silicone, hair, fabric 100 x 60 x 64cm

Zarko Baseski Macedonian sculptor, born in 1957. He is a graduate of the Fine Art Academy’s Faculty of Fine Arts in Skopje, and acquired an M.A. Fine Arts degree at the same institution in 1998. In 2010, Baseski became the academy’s Professor of Sculpture, heading the Sculpture Department. Baseski is a member of DLUM (the Macedonian Artists Association) since 1988, and has exhibited extensively in Macedonian public art institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, City Museum and the Winter Salon in Skopje, and the Marko Cepenkovâ Art Gallery & Culture Centre in Prilep. His work has also been presented at Gallery MC, New York, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Tempe, Arizona and Fayetteville, Arkansas in the US; in Istanbul, Turkey and Bari, Italy; at DLUM Annual Exhibition and Art Gallery Daut Pasha Amam in Skopje. He has received numerous awards and public commissions and his work is included in private collections in Macedonia and abroad. In 2011, Baseski represented Macedonia at the Venice Biennale with his work “Leap”.

The constant pushing of boundaries and strife towards self-perfection, rising above reality to reach beyond – the very essence of human existence – is the pivotal subject in Zarko Baseski’s works. Symbolically, he recreates and reaffirms the drama of human existence, facing the horror of the void around and within us, our personal limitations, as well as our determination to go beyond our personal boundaries, to step out beyond the horizon of the possible. For Zarko Baseski the most difficult thing is to determine and represent his deepest self with accuracy. He is the only artist in the exhibition that can qualify as a classic old fashioned self-portraitist. Using a hyperreal idiom that accentuates the shift in dimension, Baseski presents himself in a moment of psychological stress, uncertainty and anticipation.

I am my Photograph 2004 —2005/2012 Six CRT Monitors, stereo sound, time offset, continuous video loops.

Vince Briffa Vince Briffa is Head of Department of Digital Arts at the Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences of the University of Malta. Studied at the University of Central Lancashire and Leeds University in UK and at the Edinburgh College of Arts in Scotland. He has represented his country internationally and had his work exhibited in major museums and art galleries worldwide. Major works shown at the 48th edition of the Venice Biennale (1999), the Villa Manin Museum of Contemporary Art, Passariano, and the Casoria Museum of Contemporary Art in Naples, Italy; the Pierides Museum of Contemporary Art in Nicosia, and Larnaca Airport, Cyprus; the MOYA and Only Atelier in Vienna and the ‘Johanniterkirche’ in Feldkirch, Austria; the Palais des Nations, United Nations Building, Geneva, Switzerland; the grounds of the Museum of Modern Art, Vaduz, Liechtenstein; the Galerie der Schwarze Punkt, Konstanz, Germany; the Edinburgh College of Art , Edinburgh Festivals - 1996 & 2000 and Matthew Gallery, Edinburgh and the Invergordon Gallery, Inverness, Scotland; the Bretton Hall College Art Gallery, Wakefield, UK; Galerie d’Art Zero, Barcelona, Spain; Queen Street Gallery, Belfast, Northern Ireland; the Espace Claudel, Bibliothèque Universitaire, Amiens, France; MAC, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Santa Fe, Argentina; Cork Vision Centre, Cork, Ireland; Museum of Modern Art, Tel Aviv, Israel and the Cathedral Museum, Mdina, the Museum of Fine Art, the Museum of Archaeology and St. James Cavalier in Valletta, Malta.

I am my Photograph is a document of a series of daily photographic portraits taken over several months in 2004/5. It is a work that uses the continuous changes in individuality and identity through time in order to question and locate the reality of selfhood. I am my Photograph is a digital embodiment of the self in transit, a narcissistic sculpture of immortality through artifice.

evb 2012 photographic paper 70 x 70cm each

Elisa von Brockdorff Born in Malta 1982. Received a Masters in Fine Art from the University for the Creative Arts in Canterbury (Kent) in England, where she specialised in both photography and installation art. Elisa also graduated with an Hons. degree in Psychology and a Diploma in Art and Design. She has recently presented a collection of works during her first solo show, Plastic Dreams, at Lily Agius Gallery, Malta. She has participated in shows locally, as well as in England and Luxembourg. Most of her photographic interventions are temporary, some lasting a couple of hours, others lasting a few weeks. In both cases, the work is then documented through the process of photography which keeps the work alive and acts as a testimony to a scene that will soon cease to exist once the photograph has been taken. Her photographed scenes are constructed by staging familiar and mundane objects within different contexts – in doing so she challenges the objects’ functions, whilst projecting playfulness, irony and humour. Recent group exhibitions include the Valletta Photography Festival, Auberge d’Italie; Relocation, BOV Head Office; A New Generation and Eight Eighteen, Malta Contemporary Art (Malta) as well as State of Creation, Chamber of Commerce (Luxembourg). She has also been featured in CrossCurrents: critical essays on art and culture in Malta (Allied Publications). She currently works in Malta as a freelance photographer.

Throughout her short career, the artist’s practice dealt mainly with objects, whether photographed or used in well balanced, colourful installations. Her photography is usually highly polished and is mainly of objects that are staged and manipulated. However this time the photos are a documentation of her possessions within their environment. As opposed to her staged works, these intimate belongings retain their authentic value. Most items have been chosen carefully, the artist being fully aware of the fact that they reflect an aspect of her existence. They say something about who she feels, the way she dresses, the way she wants to be surrounded by chosen objects, the way she lives. The idea of being physically absent hints also to the fact that she sees herself mainly as a photographer, someone that lives in the shade behind the camera not in front of it.

– ghidli ma’ min … 2012 printed stickers, fibreboard, pine, mahogany, melamine, aluminium, pva, spray paint 170.4 x 170.4 x 7.6 cm each puzzle

Joseph Calleja With a particular interest in context and interdisciplinary practice, Joseph Calleja (b. 1981) is undergoing an MFA degree in Art, Space & Nature at The University of Edinburgh, funded by the Malta Arts Scholarships. This intrigue started off with ‘Synderesis’, an installation carried out at the National Mining Museum of Scotland and Tixref a site-specific sculptural installation as part of his UG degree show 2010. Tixref got Calleja shortlisted for Saatchi’s New Sensations 2010 and the RSA New Contemporaries 2011. Later works by Calleja unfold in different media and are informed by the site they occupy or the one they allude to. These works have mainly taken place in gallery and public environments through a series of distinct projects. His current work entitled 1.2.4.8.16. was exhibited in Kyoto, Nagoya and Yamaguchi in April and presented as his degree show in June.

– ‘ghidli ma’ min …’ is the latest undertaking by the artist where the considered site/subject defines the parameters of approach. A sense of identity becomes forged through the techniques and skills that the artist’s father endeavoured, unsuccessfully, to hand down to him. Now the artist chooses to rediscover and reapply that technical know-how for ‘nonfunctional’ art. Screen snapshots of the artist’s Facebook friends together with his ongoing research about the pixel and the glitch in ‘the pixel is worthy of the gods’ helped develop the formal aspects of this piece. Taken from a Maltese proverb, the title has informed the playful approach that gave shape to the sliding puzzles. According to the nature of the puzzle, the resolving element aids the work’s unfolding. However, such decoding occurs in more than one way.

Aaron Curmi Adrian Said Adrian Scicluna Albert Mizzi Alex Allan Alex Gibbs Alex Tobin Allan Inglis Allan Robertson Andre Sciberras Andrea Contegiacomo Andrew Muscat Andrew Smith Angel Mizzi Angelo Buttigieg Anthony Bajada Anthony Buttigieg Anthony Caruana Anthony G. Caruana Anthony Xerri Anton Refalo Augustus Veinoglou Austin Camilleri Brendan Buttigieg Brian Borg Brian Sultana Callum Monteith Calum E McClure Carmelo Refalo Cathal McIver Charlie Anderson Charlie Muscat Chris Bryant Chris Fremantle Chris Said Christian Buttigieg Christian Portelli Clayton Buttigieg Clayton Xerri Clint Camilleri D Joseph Curmi Daniel Froobert Danny Loup David Cass David Kettle David McIver Derek McGuire Dominic Sultana Donald Gauci Dun Simon Mario Cachia Dun Tonio Galea Eddy Van Mourik Emanuel Bonnici Enrico Bray Eric Bonello Ernesto Canovas Euchar Mizzi Fr Chris Cauchi Franco Mercieca Frank Farrugia Frankie Ion Magro Frankie Tabone Franklin Vella Gardecki Piotr Gary McGuiness George Mario Attard George McGill Gerard Holden Godwin Azzopardi Gordon Simpson Govann Vella Gowzef Ciprian lordan Hugo de Verteuil Ian Stephen Ian Wilson Ivan Cefai Ivan Falzon J.Savio Portelli Jacob Portelli James Camilleri James Haddrill James Mifsud Jamie Kinroy Jason Bonello Jason Joe Farrugia Jason Tanti Jean Noel Attard Jesmond Cefai Joe Loui Xerri Joel Kaplan Joseph Michael Cefai Joseph Mifsud Joey Cauchi Joey Vella John Beagles John Kettle John McIver John Paul Cefai John Rapa John-Paul Holden Johnny Mizzi Jonathan Bajada Jonathan Galea Jonathan Mifsud Jonathan Mizzi Josef Abela Josef Cardona Josef Mizzi Joseph Agius Joseph Bugeja Joseph Buttigieg de Piro Joseph Dempsey Joseph Farrugia Joseph Grech Joseph John Gozo Joseph Tabone Joseph Xerri Josh Tiernan Justin Falzon Karl Buttigieg Karl Fiorini Keith Anthony Keith Attard Keith Debono Kevin Attard Kevin Harman Kevin McGowan Krysler Harper Krystof Buttigieg Lawrence Felix Callahan Lewie Wickstead Liam Craig Alexander Allan Lorne Cremona Lorry Buttigieg Luke Azzopardi Luke Cooke-Yarbarough Manuel Mizzi Marcel Meilaq Marco Scerri Mario Bonello Mario Buttigieg Mario Cassar Mario Curmi Mario Mifsud Mario Rapa Mark Andrew Powell Mark Bonello Mark Daniels Mark Eischeid Mark Mangion Mark Schembri Art Martin Cilia Martin McIver Massimo Buttigieg Matthew Bartolo Matthew McCann Matthew Swan Matthew Zammit Max Zammit Michael Tabone Michael Borg Michael Curmi Michael Lovett Michael Said Michael Santos Brito Michael Tabone Michael Xiberras Michael Xuereb Murray Loup Nathan Portelli Neville Rae Nik Costas Noel Cremona Noel Debono Noel Mizzi Noel Zammit Omar Zerafa Patrick Fenech Patrick Mifsud Paul Buttigieg Paul Ditch Paul Muscat Paul Penrice Paul Portelli Paul Rapa Peter Greeves Peter Monkhouse Pierre Attard Pierre J Mejlak Piotr Armatys Raymond Pitreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Raymond Portelli Richard Demarco Richard Nazzareno Farrugia Richard Welsh Rob Cremona Robert Powell Ronato Said Ryan F Xerri Ryan Meilak Saliba Anthony Mario Sammy Mejlaq Samuel Grech Sandro Debono Scott McKracken Sean Bugeja Shaun Fagan Simon J. Aquilina Simon Linton Sancto Simon MacFadyen Stephen Grima Stuart Fallon Terence Holden Theuma Joseph Tom Nolan Tony Cairns Trevor Jones Umberto Buttigieg Victor Agius Victor Bonello Vince Briffa Wang Peng William Camilleri Yasunori Kawamatsu

Amy Dixon Allyson Pattie Alison Zammit Endrich Alice Bo-Wen Chang Ailsa Lochead Agnieszka Kalnik Antida Cremona Annie Benson Angela Camilleri Andrea Zammit Andrea Meylak Amy Portelli Amy Murray Carmen Karen Galea Mizzi Carmen Buttigieg Carla Hill Betsy Davis Becky Campbell Anuja Kanani Antonia Ruth Nixon Catriona Gilbert Catherine McIver Catherine MacRobbie Catherine Johnston Caroline Nadzanja Carmen Sultana Charlotte McDonald Charlene Vella Charlene Katy Chandra Casali-Bell Catriona Reid Catriona Jackson Catriona Grieve Christine Lofaro Christine Camilleri Christienne Farrugia Christiana Xerri Chishu Keleher Charmaine Magro Connie Viney Conette Portelli Zammit Claire GHigo Chrystal Sweetpea Christine X Xuereb Christine Morrison Deeksha Surendra Deborah Jackson Darja Tschernaja Daphne Caruana Danielle Smith Creative Archive Connie Xiberras Edinburgh ArtFestival Doris Abela Dorielle Bigeni Donna Incorvaja Denise Skwarczylo Denise Scicluna Denise Mifsud Franceanne Rapa Fiona Mathison Emma Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Sullivan Emma Boyd Elizabeth Jordan Elaine Wilson Eilidh McPherson Geri Loup Nolan Georgina Parkins Gaynor Boggon Francine Muscat Francesca Miller Frances Mifsud Frances Camilleri Jacqueline Cefai Ite Ad Joseph Qala I-Chern Lai Hondoq ir-Rummien Hili Caroline Hannah Rodgers Guza Xerri Greer Pester Jessica Muscat Jessica Mander Jenny Littlejohn Jen Anne Nelson Janet Cefai Jacqueline Sutherland Jacqueline Reilly Josette Buttigieg Josephine Xuereb Josanne Attard Johan Thomson Jocelyn Jones Joanna Galea Jessica Xerri Katie Paterson Kate Downie Kari Adams Karen Camilleri Kamila Kocialkowska Joyce Guillaumier Joyce Cassar Josette Jimenez Kristy Spiteri Kristy Maria Spiteri Kristina King Kit Leffler Kirstyn Cameron Kirsty Ross Katy Thomson Katy Nixon Leonarda Bray Leona Pace Laura Underwood Laura Trujillo Munoz Laura McMahon Laura Gill Laura Byrne Lorna Pirrie Lorna Catriona Darion Liz Adamson Lisa Gwen Linette Anne Kelly Linda Greig Lily Hsu Liana Moran Maria Attard Margaret Farrugia Malta Arts Scholarships Malize Mcbride Magda Blasinska Lou Wildcat Lord Marie Claire Bajada Marice Grech Galea Maria Portelli Maria Portelli Maria Chiara Camilleri Maria Calleja Mary Walters Mary Grace Mary Farrugia Mary Ann Attard Marlene Vella Mariliz Gauci Marie-Frances McGill Marie Josette Miriam Mifsud Michelle Portelli Mersa Artist Melissa Xiberras Melanie Zammit Marlene Demarco Mary Xuereb Monica Parnis Momiji Matsuura Moira Camilleri Mijo Bethe Miriam Walsh Miriam Portelli Neu Reekie Natasha Gauci Natasha Cassar Sacco Natalie de Briey Nancy Scerri Nadine Debattista Briffa Pamela Xerri Oonagh Mairi Steven Odette Camilleri Nora Holden Nina Garside Nicole Cuschieri Nicola U Queena Hsuing Priscilla Brightman Phyllis Smith Philippa Henley Perennial Art Penny Travlou Patricia Buttigieg Rebecca Portelli Rebecca J.C Prentice Rasha Aladhami Rachel Maclean Rachel Harkness Rachel Beattie Rachel Barron Rosamund Garrett Rosalie Muscat Rosalie Monod de Froideville Rodiann Abela Ritienne Portelli Renee Zammit Ruth Portelli Ruth Holmes Ruth A Nicol Ruby Artgroup Rowena Theuma Rossana Cremona Rose Farrugia Sophia Drue Sonia Xerri Sonia Silviio Solanne Bernard Sinead Dorothy Yeats Bracken Sarah Muirhead Sarah Hardie Tereza Camilleri Teresa Sciberras Susie Goodwin Susie Bell Susanna de Paolis Stephanie Richardson Sophie Neury Tracy Attard Tiziana Schembri Thorunn Bara Bjornsdottir Tessie Debono Penza Xaxa Calleja Valto McLean Valerie Meilak Valentina Maggi Tramway Glasgow Tracy Williamson

skins/islands 2012 photocopies, ink, wax and perforations 100 X (30 x 20cm)

Dominique De Beir Born in 1964 in France. She uses unusual tools to cover paper supports with perforations. She pursues the vital energy of her creative process and impulsive acts without constraints until the surface itself disappears for the benefit of its own depth. By the repetitive and relentless character of her actions, the artist gives to her work a ritual and choreographic dimension. Her work has been exhibited in La Galerie Particulière, Galerie Atelier Eric Seydoux, Galerie éof, and Galerie municipale, Paris; Musée géo-Charles, Echirolles, Maison de la culture, Amiens and Maison des Arts Georges Pompidou, Cajarc, all in France; at Galerie Phoebus, Rotterdam and Musée Rijswijk, Musée Coda Apeldoorn in the Netherlands; Galerie EL, Welle, in Belgium; at Cantieri de la Zisa, centre Culturel Français de Palerme et de Sicile in Italy; at Fabrica, Brighton in Great Britain; in galerie Kudlek van der grinten, Cologne and Kunsthaus, Celle in Germany; and at the Lennon Weinberg gallery in New York. Her works are included in a number of public and private European collections. The Museum am Oswalt in Dortmund, Germany presented her first major solo museum exhibition in 2000. In 2011, her installation, le papier à l’oeuvre, was shown at the Salle de la Chapelle, in the Louvre, Paris. Dominique De Beir lives and works in Paris and Picardie.

For several years, the recurrent feature of Dominique De Beir’s work has been the damage wrought by repeated acts of perforation. The artist stabs and gouges all sorts of hapless surfaces (paper, cardboard, polystyrene) with pointed weapons — scribers, stilettos, scalpels, hobnailed boots. For the artist, the work has become directed more towards a process than towards a predetermined representation and the act of creation comes to resemble a performance that takes place in the solitude of the workshop. By her actions, she expands the gesture of the self into imprints creating raised jagged edges that seem Braille writings, intended as much for the fingers as for the eyes. “skins / islands” is a series of 100 mechanically reproduced drawings on plain paper. Each drawing represents the same abstract landscape made of barely visible dots. She then impresses pricks to underline different parts of the dotted pattern on each paper. This invasion of tiny reliefs spreads increasingly throughout the series until it absorbs the last design/landscape creating a piece of her mirrored skin.

Armchair 2009 mixed media 8cm x 7cm x 6cm

Jessica Harrison Born in St Bees in 1982, Jessica moved to Scotland to study sculpture at Edinburgh College of Art in 2000, going on to complete an MFA and begin a practicebased PhD funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. In 2012 Jessica was the invited artist at the Visual Art Scotland exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy and in 2011 exhibited her work as part of the exhibition ‘Industrial Aesthetics’ at Hunter College in New York. In 2010 her work was selected for the exhibition ‘UKYA’ showcasing the best of young British artists as well as being part of the Milestone exhibition which toured the UK from Yorkshire Sculpture Park, to the Pier Arts Centre in Orkney, to the Cass Sculpture Park in Sussex. Other shows include ‘HEY!’, Musee Halle Saint Pierre, Paris (2011); ‘Impulse’, Aando Fine art, Berlin (2011); ‘Make Room’, The New Art Gallery Walsall (2010); ‘ARTfutures’, Bloomberg Space, London (2007). Jessica has been awarded the Kinross scholarship from the Royal Scottish Academy; the John Watson Prize from the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art and was the International Lithography Artist-in-Residence at the Black Church Print studios in Dublin in 2008. Jessica’s work is part of several public collections including Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, Fingal County Public Art Collection in Ireland, The New Art Gallery Walsall, and the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh as well as numerous private collections.

‘Handheld’ is a collection of sculptures made as part of ongoing research into the role of the body in sculpture, unraveling the shape of the felt, rather than the seen body. Thinking through the skin, the sculptures begin to explore the notion of skin as a means by which the body is projected through space as opposed to being contained by it. Made using casts of the palms and backs of the artist’s hands, each object describes an experience of holding, handling and moving around an object. Ambiguous in scale and origin, the objects appear simultaneously as part of the body but also rejected by it, hovering between inside and outside, a layer of self left behind or projected out with the figure, provoking questions about the shape of the self in relation to both the visual and the tactile body. Does the self expand to fill the space it is in, or can it be concentrated down to a specific point outside of the visual body? This fluidity of the shape and limits of the body and of self is intertwined with the tactile – it is not skin that outlines the interior of the body, but touch, something that is not necessarily aligned with the visible skin. These sculptures represent the beginning of an exploration into this participatory nature of skin, a move away from the idea of skin as boundary between ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ the body, utilising touch as a means to explore the active relationship between skin and space.

from left to right

Small Table, 2009, mixed media, 5.5cm x 5.5cm x 6cm Clock, 2009, mixed media, 4cm x 2.5cm x 18cm High Backed Armchair, 2009, mixed media, 7.5cm x 6cm x 9.5cm Small Chair, 2009, mixed media, 4cm x 4cm x 7.5cm Sofa, 2009, mixed media, 13.5cm x 6.5cm x 6cm Straight Backed Chair, 2009, mixed media, 5.5cm x 4cm x 9cm

O.T. (The Room) 2004/2012 videoperformance, 60 minutes projected in continuous loop

Davor Ljubicic Born in 1958 in Croatia. From 1980 to 1984 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo. Since then he has been awarded several prizes for painting and illustration. In 1991 he received a studio scholarship at “Cité Internationale des Arts” in Paris. From then on, he has organised several exhibitions concerning his permanent project “Galerie der schwarze Punkt” (Gallery the Black Spot). In 1993 he started working at the School of Art in Meeresburg, Lake Of Constance County (Germany). In 2000 he developed his teaching activity and took a job at the Technology High School in Constance. Ljubicic’s work has been shown in both solo and collective exhibitions in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Germany, Slovenia, and USA. His artworks can be found in different public collections, such as the Museum of Art in Sarajevo, Wessenberg Gallery in Constance, headquarters of Baden-Württemberg’s regional authority in Freiburg, and Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen. Davor Ljubicic works intensively in a variety of media. He extends his practice as a painter into video-art and performances, constructing space-oriented projects and installations. He has lived and worked as a freelance artist in Constance since 1992.

Davor Ljubicic’s installation piece functions as a trap. The observer is visualised as a reflection in a milky light, placed in one of the vaulted galleries illuminated by a radiant video-projection. From adjacent galleries, the faint sound of clapping is heard. A surprise awaits. Upon entering the foggy darkness of this adjacent space, one is confronted with the artist himself. In an hour-long video performance, Ljubicic is trying to communicate a message in sign language to the visitors. The message reads: “Stepping into this room means another human being dies somewhere in the world.” Thus, every visitor is indirectly accused of being responsible for the death of someone. The accusation is not intended as a direct charge against the observer, but the soundless attempts at communicating evoke a feeling of inevitability created by the situation.

Wide-screen projection (16:9 format), Dolby-surround sound

Åsa Riton

Direction & Editing: Åsa Riton Photography: Sophie Winqvist Sound: ‘Nedsvartning’ by The Knife Actors: Åsa Riton and Matthew Savidge

Swedish artist and filmmaker Åsa Riton’s mission is to merge artistic practice and film further, presenting her works to new audiences in unexpected environments. Apart from video installations, she also creates commercials, music videos, short films and documentaries. Her visual language and topics are unique to her, always exploring and pushing boundaries of conventional media. She twists popular culture, politics, philosophy and human nature into a world of her own. Since graduating from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, Riton has shown works at international fairs, film festivals, public events, in situations and at institutions, such as the Gothenburg International Film Festival, Helsinki’s Short Film Festival, Kulturhuset Stockholm, the 2008 World Fair in Zaragoza, Spain; Zeeuws National Museum in Holland, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, and in the streets of Iceland – California – Hawaii – Samoa – Japan – Thailand – India and Italy during her Around the World in 54 Days-journey in 2009. She recently returned from post-graduate studies at the National Film School of Denmark and is now based in Stockholm, Sweden.

Lonely Cowboys (Maligned) deals with remnant recollections and symbolic scars from destructive dependencies on lost loves, friends and family. Two bodies – male and female – physically similar and gender ambiguous, intertwined and twinned, form a temporal self portrait. In the initial slow right movement, details feature like still-lives that speak of our innate desire to capture time: A pinned butterfly of our obsession with ephemeral values like youth and beauty. Statuettes of a deer (prey) and a bear (predator) of power and surrender, and of the loss of control we must suffer to sustain relationships. In the final scene the male protagonist is spewing beads, alluding to well-known mythological imagery of antique and prehistoric deities, such as Chloris ‘from whose lips rose petals fell’ in an act of love. This action carries similar significance in Central Pacific imagery where the beads are replaced by pearls, as well as in Nordic heathen beliefs where the symbiotic yin-and-yang union of goddess Freja and god Frö (transl. ‘seed’) symbolises the abundance and cyclic renewal of nature.

What’s left 2012 Mixed media on paper 156 x 125 cm

Raphael Vella Lecturer and coordinator of the B.Ed (Hons) and M.Ed Art programmes within the Faculty of Education. He lectures in Art Methodology, Practice and Theory. He is also a practising artist and curator. He received a B.Ed. (Hons) specialising in art and art education in 1991 and also a M.Ed. specialising in aesthetic education in 1997. Between 2002 and 2006, he successfully read for a practice-based PhD in Fine Art at Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London. He has been artist-in-residence in a number of international institutions: at the Artists’ Colony of Zagorje (Slovenia) in 2008, Konstepidemin in Goteborg, Sweden in 2004, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, USA in 2001, and a year-long residency at the School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand in 2000, after being awarded a Commonwealth Art and Craft Award awarded by the Commonwealth Foundation in London. Raphael Vella’s work has been exhibited and published internationally. Reading Cabinets was shown at Modern Art Oxford in the UK in 2007, and formed part of L’Art (Contemporain) en Europe, held between 2008-9 at Domaine Pommery, Reims, France. His monumental sculpture A Horse for Airing the Gods was shown in 2004 on the Lange Voorhout in The Hague as part of the prestigious yearly event ‘The Hague Sculpture’. His work has also been shown in a number of other countries: Romania, New Zealand, the US, Argentina, Gibraltar, Sweden, Slovenia and Belgium. He is also the author of a number of books and academic articles about contemporary art and art education. He edited Cross-Currents: Critical essays on art and culture in Malta (Allied, Malta, 2008),

It was a warm summer day in 1972. A teacher prepared her children for their yearly class photograph out in the yard. The children faced a scorching sun and fidgeted as they waited for the photographer to do his job. One of them yawned at the crucial moment when the photograph was taken, immortalising an apparent expression of indifference at the very instant that history was being made. What’s left is a vague, gaping mouth in a sea of faces on a faded, black-andwhite photograph, behind which the boy’s mother inscribed her son’s name and date, “Raphael Vella, June 1972”. These details form the basis of a large drawing, drawn by the artist exactly forty years later. A vastly enlarged and blurred face occupies the centre of a semi-translucent sheet of paper. The face virtually disappears when the sheet is back-lit, but the back lighting makes a small detail in the corner come into view: a name and date, transcribed in the mother’s handwriting on the reverse side of the drawing. The script presents itself as a premature artist’s signature, written by another person’s hand.

Malta Arts Festival 2012 MAF 2012 Team

MCCA Council Members

Artistic Director Festival Manager

Mario Frendo Martin Gauci

Production Managers

Anton Miceli Noel Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Amato

Marketing Executive Market & P R Assistant

Sarah Lee Zammit Cathleen Tanti Marie Louise Vella

Festival Website Infusion Web & IT Solutions MCCA Corporate Website ICON Website Assistant Dean Muscat

Chairman Members

Mr Adrian Mamo Dr Chris Gruppetta Ms Francesca Balzan Dr Jeannine Giglio Mr Josef Camilleri Mr Kevin Sciberras Dr Martina Caruana Marquis Nicolas de Piro

MCCA Executive Director

Ms Davinia Galea

PA to Executive Director

Annalise Buttigieg

MCCA Arts Executives

Lisa Gwen Baldacchino Sean Buhagiar Dr Simone Inguanez

www.maltaculture.com www.maltaartsfestival.org

Thanks to: British Council Collection, London. Heritage Malta. Aldo Moretti, Mariella Camilleri, Katya Micallef, Alexander Debono, Bernardine Scicluna, Chris Gatt, Georgina Portelli, Justin Falzon, Diana Eccles, Paul Muscat, Simone Inguanez, Joseph Refalo, Christian Zammit.