The Beheading Of A Courier? Maltese Artist Recreates Caravaggio Painting With A Powerful 21st Century Message
One of Malta’s most beloved artists returned with a new exhibition last night… and the headlining piece was a recreation of Caravaggio’s most popular painting with some very important amendments.
Seb Tanti Burlò marked his comeback with Froġa, a solo exhibition of oil paintings that merged his signature blend of beautiful settings and sharp, at times scathing socio-political references.
Tucked in a dark room at the very end of Sliema’s R Gallery, however, was easily the star of the show – a large painting which many would instantly recognise as a tribute to Caravaggio’s The Beheading Of St John The Baptist. But it didn’t take long for the stark differences between Caravaggio’s 1608 painting and the Burlò recreation to be spotted.
Officially named Everything Remains the Same: The Beating of Yūhannā, the painting features everything from people on their phone and others eating fast food to what appears to be an officer beating down a food courier.
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From cheeky portraits of Maltese men (which saw some callbacks to his popular “Sausage Peoples”) to serene drawings of assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s garden, Froġa / Farrago has everything you could ever expect from a solo exhibition by Burlò.
Another section of the exhibition, aptly named Probable Headlines, has idyllic settings juxtaposed with newspapers bearing headlines from an alternate universe: the entire US ecology collapsing, a “water war” being declared… and even the life imprisonment of former prime minister Joseph Muscat along with Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi.
But it’s The Beating of Yūhannā which – rightly so – stole the show, with many stopping in their tracks to admire the 21st century chiaroscuro reinterpretation with a powerful message.
Froġa / Farrago will run on until 3rd December, and will be open from Wednesday to Saturday afternoons and evenings. Exact opening days and times can be found here.
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