MaltaMedia.com

An exhibition of paintings by artist Joseph Farrugia is being held at St James Cavalier. The exhibition includes works produced over the past eight years. The exhibition is called ‘Contemporary Icons’ and will remain open up to January 25th.

This set of paintings is the result of focused meditation on a select number of objects. In this particular collection, which evolves from the artist’s earlier work, the paintings translate inspirations, originating mainly from medieval iconography and psychedelic rock music, into contemporary meditations on existence and spirituality.

The solitary human presence throughout these works is projected through the anthropomorphic qualities of the artifacts used as the basis of these contemplative paintings – the silhouette, the jacket, the coat hanger and the paper plane. The latter plays a role that unifies the exhibition’s character to produce a statement about the transient nature of human existence. A sheet of paper that transforms itself into an object that aspires to conquer gravity becomes a metaphor for debate between matter and spirit, and provokes the viewer to reflect on these paintings through a voyage of self discovery.

About the artist……
Joseph Farrugia has held a number of personal exhibitions during the past twenty years, the latest being an exhibition at the United Nations in Geneva. He has also participated in numerous collective exhibitions and used to teach art and art history at St. Edward’s College and St. Aloysius College.

For the past seven years, Joseph has also been the Director General of the Malta Employers’ Association.