Studio plato exhibition @ Artitude Gallery

Hidden in the streets of Sliema is Studio Plato. Studio Plato consists of Robert Howley and the studio assistant Deborah Attard. For the exhibition at Artitude Gallery, Studio Plato invites a cameo appearance of Lucia Suquia Quintana from Madrid.

Most important of all is the work. Studio Plato is divided between two ideologies. One, the classical roots in Art and two, post Modern deconstruction. The studio has a vast library on art with the inclusion of rare books; and a collection of art from Marcel Duchamp, Pierre and Giles, and rare film posters.

What is the viewer expecting to see at Artitude Gallery? Studio Plato will be playing to the gallery, for the month of February. This period includes Valentines Day; a time to remember love and one’s loved ones after the Christmas festivities. So the studio has drawn a series of hearts. Some of the drawings are on Indian Cotton paper with paint , while one will view a triptych of pencil drawings on Ira Losco’s heart, the local band the Characters and without fail, a tribute to the King Elvis.

Deborah Attard has added gloss to the show, with a collection of photo montages. Colour being the message and post modern deconstruction the practice. These images are idealValentines Gifts .While being photographic reproductions, they are a limited edition of twelve from a series of nine. Painting of the flaming heart, butterflies and even an anatomical heart with reference to man ie. Man United will be on show.

So the conclusion is Artitude Gallery has gathered an eclectic show from the workers of Studio Plato for the month of love; not from Plato’s cave where we cast a shadow of our fine image.

The exhibition is being held at Artitude Gallery, Tigne Str, Sliema, between 1^st and 29^th February. Opening hours are Tuesday-Saturday 10am-1pm, and 4pm-7pm . For more info, please call 21316708 or email christinex180@hotmail.com.

text provided by Artitude Gallery

Contours - Charlot Cassar

One of my favourite, if not the favourite, ceramicist in Malta is Charlot Cassar. I just love his work. Last Friday, I attended to the opening of his latest exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, titled Contours.

Sinuous lines, primitive textural qualities and deep earthy colours are just some of the qualities in the ceramic works that Charlot Cassar presents in his second exhibition, currently at the Loggia, Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta. The works evoke images of a landscape at once real and imagined, that is unblemished, serene, raw, wild yet contained in an apparent calm. Compositions in clay that allude to fields, cliffs, shorelines, rock formations and the occasional saltpan reminiscent of Cassar’s first exhibition in 2006.

Definitely, its an exhibition not to be missed.

My First Milonga

For those of you who think that a Milonga is some form of strange animal, like I did, its not. All my worries that this milonga thing would need cleaning, feeding, regular exercise etc. were wrong. It turned out that a milonga is just the term for a place or an event where tango is danced. Yesterday evening, at the l'Isle Adam Band Club in Rabat I attended my first milonga. And so there i was, doing my first tango steps...... it was my equivalent of Disney's Fantasia, where hippos are dancing ballet. My wife was much better though. She was really good, especially when dancing with others. The only problem she had was psychological, she was finding it difficult to accept that i had to lead!!!!

But it was an enjoyable experience and will go again for sure.

The 16 billion pixels of the Last Supper

Today I came across this site, Haltadefinizione, and found it quite amusing. According to il-Gurdun, (a friend of mine), they are doing to art what Google did to your neighbourhood with Google Earth. The definition is impressive, more detail than this and we could be counting atoms. They created an image of the Last Supper, the fresco by Leonardo da Vinci, in 16 billion pixels. I wonder what Mr. da Vinci would think.

Exhibition at Vee Gee Bee - 5th April 2008

As announced in an earlier blog, in April i shall be holding an exhibition of small works in ink and acrylics at the Vee Gee Bee Art Gallery in Valletta. The Dates have now been confirmed too, the opening shall be on Saturday 5th April 2008 (and not 12th April as earlier announced). It will be a interesting exhibition since i shall be exhibiting a number of studies in ink or a mixture of inks and acrylics on paper and cardboard. I am still working on most of the exhibits but above is a taste of things to come.

Chiesa Degli Artisti - Rome

And finally the dates are confirmed too!!! 4th October 2008 will be the opening day of my exhibition in Rome. The exhibition, which i still have to find a name for, will stay open for two weeks i.e. until Sunday 19th October 2008. Obviously for most of the works that will be exhibited there i haven't even bought the canvas yet. Still lots of work to do...... and in April I will be exhibiting at Vee Gee Bee in Valletta. Well a few sleepless nights should help.

In the meantime if anyone has any suggestions for a name for the exhibition.............

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This is a sketch i did last July of the Chiese Gemelle, at the Piazza Del Popolo. The Chiesa Degli Artisti is the one on the left.

Prints at Vee Gee Bee

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Four of my works in Ink are now also available as prints at Vee Gee Bee Art Gallery in Valletta. The four drawings are studies in ink I did of different parts of Valletta and the Grand Harbour area. There are two series of prints, one A3 and one A4, each signed and limited to a run of 50.

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Torri Ta Lappija

Its been over a week since my last blog. This is what happens when I try and take a couple of days off. As soon as I am back to work, it takes me a few days to catch up with life. Its been quite a good holiday season, but these last couple of days just after the holidays.....well lets stop complaining. One of my new year's resolutions was to try and be quite regular with my blog, so let's start.

Last Saturday i joined a group of artists for a plein air session in Gnejna. Unfortunately it was cold so no nudists :( but the scenery was magnificent. The group, led by artist Andrew Borg, meet every Saturday and go to different places around the island. This is another resolution of mine to try and spend Saturday mornings painting outside. The group is quite a diverse lot, both in style, techniques and age. From the impression I got, the only thing that binds this group together is the love of painting. I really enjoyed it, it reminded me when i was still a student, eh those where the times...or were they? Though I will be 37 years soon, too close to 40 for comfort, artistically I feel much better today than when I was say 20. Partly its the experience and knowledge accumulated throughout the years and partly is the fact that i know that i am still young...artistically ie.

Back to last Saturday, Gnejna Bay is a beautiful place, i found a place just underneath the Torri ta' Lappija. And below is the result in Indian Ink, charcoal and white acrylic paint.

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