ART INTERRUPTED

A collective exhibition exploring the Non-Finito

Participating Artists:

Mario Abela, Alex Attard, Aaron Bezzina, Daniel Borg, Gabriel Buttigieg, Debbie Caruana Dingli, Antoine Farrugia and Darren Tanti

"I always believed that my work should be unfinished in the sense that I encourage people to add their creativity to it, either conceptually or physically.” – Yoko Ono

The excitement generated by abandoned, interrupted, or deliberately uncompleted art is so powerful that a stylistic choice known as the Non-Finito, the cult of unfinishedness, was created.

Various reasons abound as to why artworks are left unfinished whether deliberate or not. Artists may abandon an artwork to move on to another project to remain inspired or because interest is lost in a particular piece. An artwork can be left unfinished for the artist to make a statement or due to other circumstances which may be totally beyond the control of the artist, such as an untimely death. Another reason is when consciously the artist decides to leave the work unfinished, in order to involve the viewer more.

Art does not need to look finished to be complete and meaningful.

The Non-Finito holds an element of fascination, allure and intrigue where the viewer must rely on one’s creative imagination to complete the artwork.

Il-Kamra ta’ Fuq will be hosting a collective exhibition by selected artists focusing on the theme of incomplete art.

The exhibition is curated by Melanie Erixon for Art Sweven.

Dates: 19th March - 17th April

At il-Kamra ta' Fuq

Photos

Artists

Mario Abela (b.1983 Malta) is a visual artist and senior lecturer at MCAST Institute for the Creative Arts. A graduate from the University of Malta; MA Fine Arts Digital Arts and B.Ed Art and History. He works in paintings, drawings, collages, video, and sound that depart from the metaphysical, anthropological theories, and history. Abela has had multiple solo and collective shows both in Malta and abroad (Luxembourg, London, Italy). Selected solo exhibitions include ‘Leave at Dawn - Return by Dusk’ at Vini e Capricci, Xewkija, Gozo, Malta (2019) and ’Dislocated Geographies’ at Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta, Malta (2018). Selected collective exhibitions include ‘The World is No Longer Flat’, European Court of Auditors, Luxembourg (2018), ‘Cosmic Perspectives’, Ugly Duck, London (2018), ‘Lumen’ Residency Final Show; Chiesa di San Francesco, Atina, Italy (2017). In 2018, Abela was featured in the Aesthetica Art Prize top 100 artists anthology (international publication), and in 2022 he was featured on the Contemporary Art Collectors Art Book top 100 artists (international publication).

MARIO ABELA

ALEX ATTARD

Blurring the line between document and artistic expression is very often the focus of Malta based photographer Alex Attard. Driven by curiosity, he observes, filters and analyses absence and presence and records the overlooked performance. His aesthetic varies from the stark and minimal to quasi abstract and prefers to develop his work in series in an attempt to scrutinise and explore a subject as extensively as possible.

He has had various solo exhibitions one of which, ‘Parallel Existences’, has been published in book form and awarded the Malta National Book Prize 2019 for the Best Book Production. His work has been featured in several high-end shows and projects, including participation in the, the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale with architects AP Valletta, with whom he also collaborated on a group exhibition titled ‘Reasonable Dreams’ in Paris, the Ostrale 2019 Contemporary Art Biennale in Germany, and the 2015 Mdina Contemporary Art Biennale.

His work has been published in various international art and design magazines, and trend-settings platforms, such as Archdaily, iGNAT, Elle Decor and others. In 2018, together with architects Konrad Buhagiar and Erica Giusta, he contributed with his photographs to the book ‘Spontaneous’ (Libria, Italia).

In 2019 he was nominated to participate in the Prix Pictet global photography award and a portfolio of his work also forms part of the National Art Collection of Malta

Aaron Bezzina (°1991, Malta) earned a BA (with honors) in fine arts at MCAST Institute for the Creative Arts in 2014 and completed an MFA in digital arts at the Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences, University of Malta, in 2016. Bezzina has been exhibiting work both locally and overseas for several years.

In 2015 he was awarded a residency by the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg. During the summer of 2016 he undertook a traineeship with the cultural association for the arts Nuova Icona in Venice and in 2017 he was one of the artists selected for the Maltese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

Although Bezzina’s work inclines toward the sculptural, he is also interested in other media that encourage meaning making and further associative actions.

AARON BEZZINA

DANIEL BORG

Daniel Borg (b. 1986) is a Berlin-based Maltese musician, artist, and draftsman. He is well known for his musical work with a number of Maltese alternative bands and his current musical project Superlove. He graduated in Building and Construction Design at MCAST, Malta, and has worked with top firms in the field both in Malta and Berlin. He began teaching himself to paint in mid-2020.

As a visual artist primary focus is figurative painting. He uses the human body to convey various narrations juxtaposed against a varied colour palette of bold brush strokes to convey mood and emotion. There is an element of disjointedness and nostalgia in the works, which are enhanced by his modern take on chiaroscuro elements.

In 2020, Borg was invited by the Gabriel Caruana Foundation to exhibit his works in his first solo exhibition at The Mill, B’kara which was presented to the public in July 2021. Amongst other collective exhibitions during the same year, Borg was invited by the Embassy of Malta in Berlin to exhibit his work at the world-renowned Adlon Kempinski in Berlin. Two pieces by Borg were recently selected to be part of the Malta Arts Council renovation project.

Gabriel Buttigieg (b. 1993) is a visual artist based in Malta, who focuses primarily on drawing and painting. Buttigieg considers the world to be his native country and hence his artwork reflects various universal themes. He explores primordial, tribal, Mediterranean and, Grecian, myths and legends, conceptualising them in a contemporary context through a psychological lens. Solo and collective exhibitions include ‘Paintings’ (MT); ‘Nudes’ (MT); ‘The Droplet’ (MT); ‘Saudade’ (MT); ‘The Beach’ (MT/PL); ‘Darkness at Noon’ (MT); “V” (MT); ‘Dialogs2020 A Contemporary Connection’ (IT); ‘Genesis’ (UK); ‘Spring Virtual Exhibition’ (CY); ‘CloverMill Artist Residency’ (NL); ‘Autumn Virtual Exhibition (CY); and ‘#1 Arts in Square (CA). Upcoming projects include ‘Identity of an Island’ (MT) and ‘The Four Seasons A Reflection of Archetypal Imagery’ (MT). He has recently been featured in various international publications, namely ‘Wall Street International’ (USA); ‘Wall Street International (FR); ‘ArtDependence Magazine’ (BE); ‘ArtsTalk Magazine’ (NL); and ‘Impeached Magazine’ (CH).

Gabriel Buttigieg has successfully read for a Bachelors in Psychology at the University of Malta, and he is currently reading for a Masters in Fine Arts by Research at the University of Malta.

GABRIEL BUTTIGIEG

DEBBIE CARUANA DINGLI

Debbie Caruana Dingli (born 1962) has been involved in depicting a sense of identity through visual means ever since her childhood days, when she would paint portraits of her neighbours and friends for a small fee. This endeavour bloomed into a full-fledged career as one of Malta's foremost portrait painters in the footsteps of her grandfather and great uncle. However, it was soon evident that Debbie's idiosyncratic worldview could not be confined within the portrait tradition alone. She later began to explore the complex web of emotional impulses that link people together across a range of bitingly satirical cartoons and expressive reflections on such themes as displacement, depravity, and the unexpected and humorous elements that define the human condition.

Antoine Farrugia (b.1969) was born and lives in Mqabba, Malta. The artist's primary driving force lies within the limestone medium; its various geological characteristics and pliability provide the momentum to give life to organic, undulating forms. Energy that transcends the material itself, resulting in a personal endeavour to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. Such strength reverberates also in other materials, whether marble or steel, resulting in dynamic and monumental sculptures.

The stillness and chastity of his sculptures catapult the viewer into a world of sensual forms that are so reminiscent of Farrugia's oeuvre.

Farrugia had five solo exhibitions throughout the years. He participated in numerous collective exhibitions and also participated in two editions of the Mdina Contemporary art biennale in 2015 and 2017. He was invited to various international symposia and workshops in Germany and China.

His works can be found in private collections and public spaces in Malta and abroad.

ANTOINE FARRUGIA

DARREN TANTI

Darren Tanti (1987) is an artist renowned for his thematically loaded and technically accomplished paintings. His focus is hyperreality and the integration of the digital into explorative painting techniques.

Tanti has participated in numerous art projects and exhibitions in international contexts. Some of the most prestigious exhibitions that Tanti participated in are the 15th edition of the ‘Biennial of young artists from Europe and the Mediterranean’ held in Thessaloniki in 2011, ‘Time, Space, Existence’ at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2014, through AP and 'HomoMelitensis' as one of the artists representing Malta in the Venice Biennale of Art, 2017.

Apart from the different awards received, Tanti has won 'Divergent Thinkers 2' (a national art competition whose aim is to discover original/lateral approaches to art) and he was shortlisted for 'The Commonwealth Young Achievers Award, 2015'. One can find artworks by Tanti in the National Collection of Art in MUZA and The Embassy of the Republic of Malta in Washington D.C.

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