Anthropos – is the title of the new exhibition for Arthall in Gozo when it reopens in May, with three participating artists – Mario Abela, Victor Agius and Tony Briffa.
“From the glory and the heights of the sublime to the misery of existing and ruining our surroundings and ourselves. We are we and our circumstance,” and like the Spanish Philosopher Ortega y Gasset used to say, “if we don’t save it we don’t save ourselves. Where are we heading? What is left after us? How are we affecting our environment? Oh, humans, so capable of both extremes!”
The gallery explained that “this is a collective exhibition inhabited by undefined shapes, strange creatures and ghosts, that with its powerful indifference make us consider who we really are and what we are creating or, perhaps even more, what we are destroying.”
Mario Abela participates with large paintings, “notes from the Anthropocene,” referring to a time where humans started to impact the planet’s climate and ecosystems, showing a chaotic mix of nature, animals and humans.
Victor Agius focuses on the earthy elements with sculptures made from organic materials, reminding the fragility of nature and humanity, but also their immense potential.
Tony Briffa puts the cherry on the cake with his 3 dimensional creatures that seem to jump from a fantasy land direct to the Arthall show; fun and unclassifiable, they will catch your attention and charm your eye, the gallery said.
MARIO ABELA – was born in 1983 in Gozo, Malta, where he lives and works. Mario holds a Bachelors Degree in Education – Art and History, and a Masters in Fine Arts – Digital Arts, from the University of Malta.
He is currently a senior lecturer at MCAST Institute for the Creative Arts, lecturing in Fine Arts, Graphic Design, and Interactive Media. He uses paintings, drawings, collage, video and sound that depart from the metaphysical, anthropological theories and history.
Through a juxtaposition of images and chance during execution, what starts as storytelling, becomes an exploration into fantastic worlds. This puts concepts like time, memory and chance under analysis, to establish how these determine the interpretation of the past and sometimes forecast the future.
VICTOR AGIUS – Born in 1982, Victor Agius is an artist working in sculpture, painting, video, performance and installation. His practice demonstrates a direct affinity with the earth and the natural elements which are clearly demonstrated in his continuous research about primitive rudiments and rituals and also man’s incessant rapport with nature, time and his own existence.
After graduating from the University of Malta (2004), he furthered his studies in Perugia, Italy and at the Central Saint Martin’s College for Art and Design in London (UK). He is co-founder of Ars Vitae Ensemble.
He is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta. His works have been exhibited at the National Museum of Fine Arts and St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in Valletta, at the UNESCO World Heritage site Ggantija temples, at the Mdina Cathedral, at The Royal Theatre in Valletta, at St Agatha’s Catacombs in Rabat, at The Mill – Art, Culture and Crafts Centre and in local and international galleries including St Eufemia Gallery in Venice, at Lauba Gallery in Zagreb, and at the Ceramic Context in Bornholm, Denmark.
His works are to be found in numerous private and public collections worldwide, and in international published catalogues and books. In 2016 he was invited to exhibit his works at the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza, Italy during the Settimana dell’Contemporaneo.
In 2017 his work was included in an international project between contemporary artists from Poland and Malta which was held in Valletta where he exhibited along with Mark Mangion, Vince Briffa, Miroslaw Balka, Austin Camilleri, Pawel Althamer and Raphael Vella among others.
He was also invited to exhibit his artworks in Nisga, a collective exhibition of a selection of contemporary artists together with Maltese masters which was organised by Valletta 2018 at Spazju Kreattiv. In January 2019 his sculptures where launched in Galleria Eduardo Secci in Florence in a curated international collective exhibition curated by Pietro Gagliano entitled Mass Spectacle.
His work entitled ‘Terrarossa’ was shortlisted for the Summer Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. In May 2019 his proposal for Art in Public Spaces named Hagarna was inaugurated together with a performance in Xaghra, Gozo.
In 2020 Agius was selected among 500 applicants by an international jury to exhibit with another 49 artists at the renowned Premio Faenza Biennale of contemporary ceramics at the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza Italy which was later launched virtually in 2021.
In November 2020 Agius was invited for a 5 day art residency at The Mill in Malta by the Gabriel Caruana Foundation.
TONY BRIFFA – Born in Malta in 1959, studied ceramics in the late seventies obtaining a distinction diploma from Targa Gap School for Craftsmen.
After almost ten years working in the ceramic industry, he was entrusted with the ceramic studios at Targa Gap, his old art school. Since the early eighties, he exhibited in a significant number of national and international juried exhibitions, drawing the attention of art critics and collectors.
All along he also worked intensely in the theatre both as an actor and as a designer. He designed sets, costumes & props for major productions by playwrights as diverse as Aristophanes, Moliere, Neil Simon and Peter Shaffer.
In 1995, he was awarded the Commonwealth Foundation Fellowship in Art and Crafts, which he pursued later as a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for the Arts, Hobart, University of Tasmania. While in Australia, he attended the international ceramic Clay Sculpt Symposium at Gulgong.
He moved to Tåsinge in Denmark in 2002 where he now lives and work. Tony was awarded the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2015 and the Malta Arts Council Grant in 2016 and 2018 for his ceramic sculptures.
Anthropos open from the 1st to the 30th of May at Arthall [1]: 8, triq Agius de Soldanis, Victoria, Gozo. *The exhibition will be subject to Covid-19 restrictions.
Opening hours: From Wednesday to Saturday from 10am-1pm and 5pm-7pm; Sunday from 10am-12 midday