Does Malta’s Summer Shine Through The Abyss Of Grief? Maltese Painter’s New Valletta Exhibition Explores The Four Seasons
Local painter Gabriel Buttigieg has returned with a new body of work focused on the theme of the four seasons, freshly launched in Valletta on 8th April.
‘The Four Seasons’ is an artistic and metaphorical exploration of the four seasons – and what they bring with them throughout different times of the year. This will be taking place at a new space in collaboration with Studio 87 – it can be found at 38, Triq Lvant, Valletta.
“The project features four large canvas paintings each offering a personal representation of a different season. It will serve to stretch the artist to freely explore drawing and painting, uniting primitive themes with spiritual, ethereal ones,” the exhibition synopsis reads.
“The artist will venture into the exploration of the feminine, or lack thereof, and he will attempt to construct the interpretation of the feminine through a fluid lens, bypassing binary modes of thought.”
“Similar to the chapters which define us as humans, the paintings will explore, in an archetypal and mythological manner, the various junctions of life.”
“Through the use of drawing and painting, woven like a colourful tapestry, the exhibition will also paradoxically portray the fact that one may also often feel at odds with the socially constructed season aligned with a particular stage in life.”
The work also poses the following questions to the viewer;
What makes our winter but the bitterness that grips the soul? How can summer shine through the abyss of grief? Can our spring happen in the dimming twilight of our lives? Will autumn pervade the nihilistic gloominess of cynicism and fatalism? Such, and other existential concerns, will be unfurled, in reference to the mystery that is life.
Combined with the above, four local authors will be approached to interpret each season from their perspective. The writings will be presented in booklet format.
“The experience of these protagonists will mirror each and every one of us to different degrees, with psychodynamic, existential, and psychopathological undertones at play. It is envisaged that the exhibition itself will also serve as a platform for creating discussion in the local context regarding constructs of femininity.”
The curators are also collaborating with Sarah Chircop who has produced a wonderful video installation that really captures the spirit of Gabriel’s interpretation of the four seasons.
Tag someone that needs to visit this exhibition
READ NEXT: Mercedes 'Total Loss' After Election Celebrations' Flare Set Għaxaq Woman's Car Ablaze
