For his ninth one-man exhibition since 2002, Gozitan artist Christopher Saliba, who lives and has his studio in Nadur, is presenting a series of 31 abstract paintings in the main hall of St. James Cavalier, Valletta. Veering away from his landscapes of Gozo and Malta with which he has regaled visitors to his previous exhibitions in the two islands, he has now suddenly changed his path to pure abstraction in this set of works, all in mixed media on canvas.
Abstraction however is definitely not new to him. In the course of his studies between 1997 an 2001 at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Perugia he specialised in abstract painting though he also studied sculpture and etching. What I am not aware of is whether the present set of recent works in Valletta have anything in common, or at least follows the same trends of, with his abstracts of the Perugia period or not.
What we can at least deduce from the overall title given to the present works – Of Time and Timelessness – is that Saliba tries to bring together the sense of the temporal, corresponding to the present, and that of the timeless, whereby the visual element is not tied to what is happening now but rather to that which belongs to the future. In a sense there is sufficient reason to view all this as symbolic of a direct filament between the past, the present and the future.
As Kenneth Wain points out in his introduction appearing in the brochure, “initially the artist was more attracted to the studied contemplative approach with which a Rothko (well aware of time) would explore the theme than to the dynamic action painting of a Pollock dedicated exclusively to the timeless.” That should in a way explain the overall title given to the collection.
The abstracts by Christopher Saliba present him as a good interpreter of the genre. He can vary his palette according to what appears to be impulsive dashes of his brush to other applications of paint that are more studied according to the particular composition that he is after. Though the works, all untitled, are not individually dated, we are told in the brochure that they are hung in chronological sequence. Thus, the spectator is in a position to follow the evolution of his abstract vision from the earlier examples to the most recent ones.
Texture is very important for Saliba. One can feel it palpably present in a good part of his canvases. He often scrapes into the canvas, thereby revealing the underlying surface and in so doing is physically exploring what appears to be different stages that have, with time, created the final product. Intimately tied to texture is Saliba’s penchant for colour schemes. There are no particular preferences for him, but it is obvious that it is the blues, the reds and the earth colours that predominate more or less.
Saliba, who was born in 1975, started his artistic training at the university where he graduated as an art teacher. Today he is a teacher by profession. Thanks to his regular exhibitions, first in Gozo and eventually also in Malta, most of which I had occasion to view, over the past few years he has come a long way to prove himself as one of the leading up-and-coming artists hailing from the sister island.
Maybe it is too early to make any bold statements about Saliba’s contribution towards the abstract genre. However, from his present showing I would definitely and quite positively forecast a fruitful future for him in that field.
E. Fiorentino, The Sunday Times, November 12, 2006.
Abstraction however is definitely not new to him. In the course of his studies between 1997 an 2001 at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Perugia he specialised in abstract painting though he also studied sculpture and etching. What I am not aware of is whether the present set of recent works in Valletta have anything in common, or at least follows the same trends of, with his abstracts of the Perugia period or not.
What we can at least deduce from the overall title given to the present works – Of Time and Timelessness – is that Saliba tries to bring together the sense of the temporal, corresponding to the present, and that of the timeless, whereby the visual element is not tied to what is happening now but rather to that which belongs to the future. In a sense there is sufficient reason to view all this as symbolic of a direct filament between the past, the present and the future.
As Kenneth Wain points out in his introduction appearing in the brochure, “initially the artist was more attracted to the studied contemplative approach with which a Rothko (well aware of time) would explore the theme than to the dynamic action painting of a Pollock dedicated exclusively to the timeless.” That should in a way explain the overall title given to the collection.
The abstracts by Christopher Saliba present him as a good interpreter of the genre. He can vary his palette according to what appears to be impulsive dashes of his brush to other applications of paint that are more studied according to the particular composition that he is after. Though the works, all untitled, are not individually dated, we are told in the brochure that they are hung in chronological sequence. Thus, the spectator is in a position to follow the evolution of his abstract vision from the earlier examples to the most recent ones.
Texture is very important for Saliba. One can feel it palpably present in a good part of his canvases. He often scrapes into the canvas, thereby revealing the underlying surface and in so doing is physically exploring what appears to be different stages that have, with time, created the final product. Intimately tied to texture is Saliba’s penchant for colour schemes. There are no particular preferences for him, but it is obvious that it is the blues, the reds and the earth colours that predominate more or less.
Saliba, who was born in 1975, started his artistic training at the university where he graduated as an art teacher. Today he is a teacher by profession. Thanks to his regular exhibitions, first in Gozo and eventually also in Malta, most of which I had occasion to view, over the past few years he has come a long way to prove himself as one of the leading up-and-coming artists hailing from the sister island.
Maybe it is too early to make any bold statements about Saliba’s contribution towards the abstract genre. However, from his present showing I would definitely and quite positively forecast a fruitful future for him in that field.
E. Fiorentino, The Sunday Times, November 12, 2006.
