Some argue that figurative art has become less fashionable since the invention of photography in the 1880s. Artists like the Impressionists, followed by the Expressionists, started to interpret in a personal way the various genres and avoid representing faithfully objective reality. Freedom of expression and spontaneity of execution were injected in the new and challenging art practices, leading eventually to pure abstraction. Nowadays other media like photography itself, installation and video are being used by artists to express their emotions and their ideas or otherwise, to make a statement. The classical canons of beauty and harmony and the mastery of techniques are being constantly undermined or challenged by unconventional and deviant aesthetical forms. Today, it has become familiar practice among internationally recognised artist to challenge, shock or provoke the art system – sometimes with the intent of making a name for themselves. Some appear more interested in assimilating and amalgamating different art languages , in questioning notions and practices without necessarily giving answers. Some even dare go a step further by confronting the opposites in their work, for instance, the sacred and the fetish, the mystical and the profane, the sublime and the ordinary, the profound and the kitsch. Such practice is most commonly adopted by conceptual artists.
My question is, what are the priorities of an emerging artist in such a complex system consisting of a multitude of artistic languages? While acknowledging that the possibilities are numerous, one needs first and foremost to determine which art practices are personally most at heart. An artist needs to take advantage from all the possibilities a medium can offer; regular practice allows for similar traits to develop from one piece to another. Continuous practice generates confidence and the build-up of an own and personal artistic language, consisting of its own and specific rules and dynamics. Regular production is equivalent to a disciplined approach that guarantees a more mature and successful product. Perseverance and learning through trials and errors help in the moulding of a more coherent art language. Phases of involution that occur throughout an artist’s development indicate that one needs to stop and reflect upon the possibities of assimilating new practices that would improve his or her forms of expression. Moreover, significant events in our life contribute to the definition and manifestation of one’s own artistic language. Creative output may go along financial success, but the two are not necessarily related. Financial success requires a certain extent of luck, and is dependent upon the assistance of the mass media, the contacts with the various gallery owners, art museums and institutions, art critics and art collectors. Take Malta for instance. The artists' reputation, their financial success and their vocational survival are basically dependent on the promotion made by the local media and the exposure provided by a handful of art galleries. However, it is sad to note that noone among the Maltese visual artists has yet gained international status. This shows that there is still work to be done in such a way that local contemporary art emerges on the larger scenario and meets international recognition.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Link to the exhibition at the Mayor's Palace in Palermo
http://www.informazione.it/c/9326B95E-01C9-46D0-A992-BB2B8550F607/Lux-Aeterna-Sul-viaggio-della-Luce
(informazione.it - comunicati stampa)
Venerdì 14 Gennaio alle ore 17,30 la Galleria Villa Niscemi, piazza dei Quartieri,2 a Palermo, che oltre ad essere la prestigiosa sede di rappresentanza del Sindaco, costituisce un insieme di grande interesse sia per la splendida conservazione degli interni, sia per la vastità e bellezza del parco che, confinante com'è con quello della Favorita, ne costituisce la naturale prosecuzione, formando con esso un unicum paesaggistico, verrà presentata a cura del Prof. Giovanni Battista Maria Falcone la personale dell'Artista Christopher Saliba intitolata “Lux Aeterna – Sul viaggio della Luce” .
Artista maltese che ha già evidenziato grandi doti artistiche con esposizioni in Italia e all’estero è alla sua prima esposizione in Sicilia.
La mostra promossa dall'Associazione Artistico Culturale Maestri D'Arte, curata dal Prof. Giovanni Battista Maria Falcone è Patrocinata dal Comune di Palermo.
La rassegna, ripercorre attraverso venti opere selezionate il percorso creativo dell'ultima produzione
frutto della continua ricerca dell'Artista.
Le opere di Christopher Saliba sono un viaggio immaginifico nella luce. Luce che percorre spazi infiniti e che ci racconta di molteplici universi illuminati e poi oscurati dopo il suo passaggio.
Se osserviamo le sue opere, soprattutto le prime, la tessitura è intrisa di innumerevoli paesaggi che risuonano di forme e colori mediterranei. Case, paesaggi, pietra arenaria: forse alludono alla forza creatrice di una cultura spesso dimenticata e che ha perso quella valenza storica ed umana che ha generato le grandi civiltà del passato. Poi queste forme si dissolvono e divengono, in maniera più consistente nelle sue opere di genere astratto, informi, generando, quasi come vortici e tempeste, un flusso magnetico che procede verso l'universo, proprio come una Lux Aeterna.
L'artista si serve di luce molto fredda, quasi tendente all'azzurro, trasformando i colori come in materia metallica, in magma rigeneratore, che tutto brucia e travolge. E' una luce che produce un grande coinvolgimento emotivo, innescando un vortice di emozioni.
Dal pittorico figurativo alla perdita della forma, Christopher Saliba mostra di dominare gli spazi più impervi di un mondo, quello della pittura espressionista astratta, un genere alla cui base stanno sia la spontaneità del rapporto dell'artista con l'opera che il ruolo privilegiato dell'inconscio nel processo creativo.
Mostra di grande interesse culturale se ne consiglia la visione a professionisti del settore, collezionisti e semplici osservatori.
In Mostra fino al 20 Gennaio 2011
Per informazioni contattare:
Associazione Artistico Culturale Maestri D'Arte
Tel. +39 349 3744896
e mail: maestridarte@gmail.com
(informazione.it - comunicati stampa)
Venerdì 14 Gennaio alle ore 17,30 la Galleria Villa Niscemi, piazza dei Quartieri,2 a Palermo, che oltre ad essere la prestigiosa sede di rappresentanza del Sindaco, costituisce un insieme di grande interesse sia per la splendida conservazione degli interni, sia per la vastità e bellezza del parco che, confinante com'è con quello della Favorita, ne costituisce la naturale prosecuzione, formando con esso un unicum paesaggistico, verrà presentata a cura del Prof. Giovanni Battista Maria Falcone la personale dell'Artista Christopher Saliba intitolata “Lux Aeterna – Sul viaggio della Luce” .
Artista maltese che ha già evidenziato grandi doti artistiche con esposizioni in Italia e all’estero è alla sua prima esposizione in Sicilia.
La mostra promossa dall'Associazione Artistico Culturale Maestri D'Arte, curata dal Prof. Giovanni Battista Maria Falcone è Patrocinata dal Comune di Palermo.
La rassegna, ripercorre attraverso venti opere selezionate il percorso creativo dell'ultima produzione
frutto della continua ricerca dell'Artista.
Le opere di Christopher Saliba sono un viaggio immaginifico nella luce. Luce che percorre spazi infiniti e che ci racconta di molteplici universi illuminati e poi oscurati dopo il suo passaggio.
Se osserviamo le sue opere, soprattutto le prime, la tessitura è intrisa di innumerevoli paesaggi che risuonano di forme e colori mediterranei. Case, paesaggi, pietra arenaria: forse alludono alla forza creatrice di una cultura spesso dimenticata e che ha perso quella valenza storica ed umana che ha generato le grandi civiltà del passato. Poi queste forme si dissolvono e divengono, in maniera più consistente nelle sue opere di genere astratto, informi, generando, quasi come vortici e tempeste, un flusso magnetico che procede verso l'universo, proprio come una Lux Aeterna.
L'artista si serve di luce molto fredda, quasi tendente all'azzurro, trasformando i colori come in materia metallica, in magma rigeneratore, che tutto brucia e travolge. E' una luce che produce un grande coinvolgimento emotivo, innescando un vortice di emozioni.
Dal pittorico figurativo alla perdita della forma, Christopher Saliba mostra di dominare gli spazi più impervi di un mondo, quello della pittura espressionista astratta, un genere alla cui base stanno sia la spontaneità del rapporto dell'artista con l'opera che il ruolo privilegiato dell'inconscio nel processo creativo.
Mostra di grande interesse culturale se ne consiglia la visione a professionisti del settore, collezionisti e semplici osservatori.
In Mostra fino al 20 Gennaio 2011
Per informazioni contattare:
Associazione Artistico Culturale Maestri D'Arte
Tel. +39 349 3744896
e mail: maestridarte@gmail.com
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Exhibition in Palermo, Italy.
Ten years have passed by since my return to my homeland after four years (1997-2001) of hard work and study in Italy. This brought about the idea of reviving my connection with the Italian art scene and organising an exhibition there. Thanks to the association Maestri d'Arte, which shall start to represent my work in Italy, I will be showing my first exhibition in 2011 at the Mayor's Palace, in Palermo, Sicily. This exhibition, taking place in January, shall be followed by another one in Italy (in collaboration with Maestri d'Arte) later on during the year.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Installation - December 2010
I have recently collaborated with artist Martin Attard in the creation of an installation in conjunction with the opening of the new boys' secondary school in Gozo. The idea behind the work created was to manifest symbolically the transition from the old to the new educational premises. The underlying concept was to instill an awareness that there exist no present or future without their past. The dignity of old furniture, stored educational resources or historical documentations was restored with their presence, even though temporary, during the celebration of this transition. Abandoned objects and faded photos evoked memories of educators, students, visitors and past educational experiences. The 'ready-mades' or recycled objects displayed in the installation contrasted with the modern structures and refurbishing of the new school. A sense of nostalgy and simultaneously, the awareness of changing times, could be sensed thoroughly in the intimacy of the atmosphere created.
The display of found objects and their re-utilisation in unfamiliar contexts is not something new to my repertoire of contemporary art creations. This methodology has recurred frequently in the creation of installations displayed in my past exhibitions.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Ageing mirrors - my new project
This period of the year, characterised by a number of committments related to commissioned works, is also the starting point of a new artistic project consisting mostly of photographic works.It is a long-term project based mainly on documentation, throughout which the iconographic attributes of the classical portrait are presented in stark contrast with less conventional representations of the human being. The nature of the project is conceptual. A computer programme has been created on purpose to give way to a new digital approach for developing the portrait image. The project, which revolves around the themes of life, death and human nature, is still in its initial phase but already promises to be one of my most challenging projects.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Review by Dr.Louis Lagana'
17 April 2010 http://www.independent.com.mt
Christopher Saliba is an artist who explores the unlimited possibilities abstract art could offer. Like other artists he underwent professional training in an academic art institution. In fact, during the years 1997 and 2001, he developed the technical skills in various mediums at the Accademia di Belle Arti Pietro Vannucci in Perugia, Italy. After his studies abroad, in 2002, Saliba held his first personal exhibition in Gozo, his birthplace. This is his 10th personal art show entitled Introspections.
Most of these works are not simply an abstracted re-interpretation of the visual sources that attract the artist but also an expression of the unconscious. I consider that Saliba’s latest works are a reflection of his inner vision and the spiritual condition of humankind, and therefore possess a significant symbolic content. In his latest collection of works Saliba focuses on the circular form as a major element within the composition. As stated by various psychoanalysts and art historians, the circle is a symbol of the psyche whereas the square and the rectangle are symbols of earthbound matter, of the body and reality. In his work Saliba does not make any distinction between these two primary forms. It is rather his urge to bring to consciousness the basic factors of life that really matters, symbolized by these primary forms. We know that art is not solely concerned with beauty or with aesthetic pleasure, that is, with images of objects that appear in our external world. Artists like Saliba also seek to express the non-objective work coming from the ‘inside’ world.
When we look closely at Christopher Saliba’s canvases we notice that there is always a point of departure: the exploration of light that manifests itself within organised structures or contrasting spaces. Dark and light blues, yellows, ochres and a range of reds dominate his rich palette.
Colour is freed from any objective context and becomes the subject in itself. Expansive colour fields are bound by crude but defined lines; imperfections, threads of light, scars and fissures of accumulated time are brushed into the layered medium.
Today the art of Christopher Saliba does not limit itself to the medium of painting. He also uses drawing, etching, sculpture, digital photography, installation and video art. He experiments continuously to pursue his life-long artistic journey of self-discovery and an aesthetic vision that mirrors the cultural values of contemporary society.
Introspections will run between 6 - 30 April at Auberge d’Italie, Merchants Street, Valletta. The exhibition, supported by APS Bank, Middlesea Valletta Life and Marsovin, will be open daily from 9am to 5pm. More information about the event is available on the artist’s website www.gozo-art.com.
Christopher Saliba is an artist who explores the unlimited possibilities abstract art could offer. Like other artists he underwent professional training in an academic art institution. In fact, during the years 1997 and 2001, he developed the technical skills in various mediums at the Accademia di Belle Arti Pietro Vannucci in Perugia, Italy. After his studies abroad, in 2002, Saliba held his first personal exhibition in Gozo, his birthplace. This is his 10th personal art show entitled Introspections.
Most of these works are not simply an abstracted re-interpretation of the visual sources that attract the artist but also an expression of the unconscious. I consider that Saliba’s latest works are a reflection of his inner vision and the spiritual condition of humankind, and therefore possess a significant symbolic content. In his latest collection of works Saliba focuses on the circular form as a major element within the composition. As stated by various psychoanalysts and art historians, the circle is a symbol of the psyche whereas the square and the rectangle are symbols of earthbound matter, of the body and reality. In his work Saliba does not make any distinction between these two primary forms. It is rather his urge to bring to consciousness the basic factors of life that really matters, symbolized by these primary forms. We know that art is not solely concerned with beauty or with aesthetic pleasure, that is, with images of objects that appear in our external world. Artists like Saliba also seek to express the non-objective work coming from the ‘inside’ world.
When we look closely at Christopher Saliba’s canvases we notice that there is always a point of departure: the exploration of light that manifests itself within organised structures or contrasting spaces. Dark and light blues, yellows, ochres and a range of reds dominate his rich palette.
Colour is freed from any objective context and becomes the subject in itself. Expansive colour fields are bound by crude but defined lines; imperfections, threads of light, scars and fissures of accumulated time are brushed into the layered medium.
Today the art of Christopher Saliba does not limit itself to the medium of painting. He also uses drawing, etching, sculpture, digital photography, installation and video art. He experiments continuously to pursue his life-long artistic journey of self-discovery and an aesthetic vision that mirrors the cultural values of contemporary society.
Introspections will run between 6 - 30 April at Auberge d’Italie, Merchants Street, Valletta. The exhibition, supported by APS Bank, Middlesea Valletta Life and Marsovin, will be open daily from 9am to 5pm. More information about the event is available on the artist’s website www.gozo-art.com.
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