Unknown Prescription – a contemporary exhibition at Il-Hagar in Gozo comes to an end on Sunday, the 14th of April, and the Museum is offering art lovers the opportunity to meet one of the three Maltese artists – Charles Balzan.

Balzan will walk them through his part in the exhibition in an event scheduled for this Saturday, the 6th of April, starting at 11am at the Museum.

Charles Balzan is a conceptual artist whose medium ranges from installation, photography, etching, painting, and drawing. His work reveals his interests in philosophy, theology, and poetry and is a visceral exploration of the unconscious and the primitive urges within us.

The Museum said that primal emotions such as rage, terror, or traumatic conditions are conveyed through bodily postures whose vulnerability is synonymous with pain and an insatiable craving for connection, solace, and liberation.

Charles Balzan’s portfolio boasts a national prize at the ‘/ru:t/’ (2014) exhibition. He has also participated in various other exhibitions such as Smudge at Studio 87 (2018), ‘NUD’ at Desko (2019) and X-Posed (2019) at the Art Academy – London, and ‘Darkness at Noon’ (2021) at Splendid. Of particular interest is his photobook ‘Not Alone’ published by EDE (2017) which intimately probes and explores his immediate family.

Il-Hagar explained that “this is an occasion for the audience to have a more genuine encounter with this artist before the closure of this contemporary exhibition. Balzan’s latest endeavour of blackening stones with soot and then printing onto them is reminiscent of destruction and loss but also of creativity and meaning.”

“The breaking up of the bodies into fragments placed strategically around the Museum cannot but invite the visitor to ponder the continuum extending between life and the possibility of an afterlife, with death as its fulcrum,” it said.

Entrance to the Museum is free. Reservations for the event is recommended by emailing: events@heartofgozo.org.mt

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