Whereabouts

• Debbie Bonello and Andrew Borg paint Malta

Collective exhibitions can be somewhat difficult to bring together because artists have their own styles that can clash with that of others, even when there is an underlying and unifying theme that artists work towards. This is certainly not the case with Andrew Borg and Debbie Bonello’s joint exhibition Whereabouts for whom the local landscape is often the most significant source of inspiration. In this exhibition, both artists are very much in tune, not only in subject matter, but also in the mood and aura they have captured. This is not to say that the paintings by each artist are not recognisable and individual to that of the other; their styles are still discernible.

Whereabouts is a joint exhibition that has from the very beginning been a collaboration between these two Maltese artists who share a lot in common and who have for the last five years worked closely together on their separate artistic production. Borg needs no introduction to the local artistic scene and Bonello rose to the occasion and gave a valid contribution to this exhibition that celebrates a milestone in the history of the Victoria Arts Festival.

The exhibition portrays a variety of vistas of Gozo seen from different viewpoints, ones that are not as commercial and which are, therefore, unexpected. Gozo was an island that both artists had not explored as intimately prior to this exhibition. The focus is on Gozo’s beaches, cliffs, valleys, creeks, countryside and garigue. The result is a collection of paintings that showcase the sister island’s tranquility and natural beauty, albeit one that has of late also been under scrutiny.

Different shades of blue and earthy tones dominate Borg’s palette in this collection which are largely in his favoured and distinguishable square format that often incorporates a characteristically low or high horizon. The tonal quality of the blue changes according to what is portrayed, namely for the vast skies and sea.

Borg’s brushwork is at times tightly worked up with bold yet fluid nonetheless, especially when expanses of waves, clouds and rock are portrayed. Yet a dry brush is employed in other paintings, a technique that contributes to the arid landscapes adding to the rustic quality of some scenes. These features can be better appreciated if one looks at the paintings at a very close range. Despite the painterliness of these works, a couple of Borg’s pictures verge on the hyper realistic, although imitating nature down to the minutest of details is certainly not his aim. On the other hand, other paintings actually appear to be quite abstract, although these too were certainly inspired by a Gozo view.

Bonello’s paintings offer a brighter palette in a collection of paintings that in the main explore a narrow portrait, or horizontal, format featuring a high horizon in most compositions. Different times of day feature with memorable, fiery sunsets and vividly coloured flowers, while other scenes are bathed in light exuding Mediterranean heat. Beaches are another protagonist as are views of Gozo taken from out at sea. In Bonello’s painterly scenes, the subject is straightforward and succinct executed with a pulsating brushwork that is again amply visible at any range.

Bonello is here also paying homage to her father who originally hails from the village of Zebbug in Gozo, with a painting of Żebbuġ with the church dominating the skyline, since it is he who had restored one of the church’s bell towers; the church therefore features in this particular painting, symbolically without one of its bell towers.

Whereabouts presents us with a view of Gozo where its natural beauty comes first and no human figures feature. In fact, human presence is barely discerned in this collection of paintings, save for the church at the horizon and a crane in one instance.

With these views by Andrew Borg and Debbie Bonello, Gozo has never looked so alluring as an island hideaway, far from the mainstream.

Dr Charlene Vella is a senior lecturer within the Department of Art and Art History