Fragments is the title of Andrew Borg’s fourth solo exhibition that is on view throughout the month of February at the Palm Court Lounge, The Phoenicia Malta.

In the last few years, Borg has produced paintings that have been inspired by his personal visits to Malta and Gozo’s coast and countryside but also that of Sicily, especially those produced in the last few weeks, at the start of 2023.

The selection of paintings executed in oil on canvas or board presents landscapes taken from what can be largely called unlikely views, often painted from a particular vantage point that is a hallmark of Borg’s unique compositions. This is what makes the paintings very much recognisable as being by Andrew Borg, as is the square 60 x 60cm format of canvas that he tends to favour.

Aci Castello, Sicily, 2023

From broad vistas captured during the day or night to a zoomed-in subject matter executed with a varied palette, the paintings also portray a variety of moods and atmospheres. The colours range from purple, blue and earthy tones. Striking orange hues feature in a raging fire, a sunrise, a sunset as well as a blood moon that he observed in Sicily.

Borg’s paintings continue to portray vast skies, seas or meadows, executed with a low or high horizon, a feature that remains omnipresent in this collection. They are composed of quick brushstrokes that, however, are also carefully calculated. This is very much in his nature, being an engineer by profession. What may appear meticulous from a distance can, in fact, be seen to have been executed with flair with a few broad strokes.

The Last of the Sodium Lamps, 2023

This is visible when one looks closely at paintings like The last of the Sodium Lamps, which portrays a city lit up at night as viewed from a distance and a high vantage point. Having exhibited abundantly since 2006, Borg is certainly prolific and displays maturity in his art. An avid painter of landscapes executed in oils, Borg also works in watercolour and enjoys painting en plein air. He also executes portraits in short sessions in his Siġġiewi studio.

However, one can also notice that the tendency is for Borg to transition towards abstraction, such as in Wied Sabbar, Mġarr ix-Xini as well as the shrouding over of his own paintings like in Fragmented Landscape – Comino respectively, which is what prompted the exhibition title. This painting is symbolic of, in his words, “the increasing erosion of what used to make Malta beautiful. What’s left are small bits of a distant environmental and social past.”

The paintings portray 'fragments’ of Maltese landscapes that are distant in spirit, that are juxtaposed with new inspirations from another land

Another painting that portrays a different point of view is a painting of the bulwark that is the medieval Norman castle in Aci Castello (province of Catania) with the stronghold that is perched on a cliff edge towering over the viewer which is captured in silhouette against a light blue sky.

In fact, Fragments is synchronous with Borg’s life as of the last few months, which have seen him living between two homes on two central Mediterranean islands that have very much in common and yet which offer completely different experiences: Malta and Sicily. To Borg, Sicily offers an escape, a hideaway. It offers stillness, quiet, peace, clean air, more green, less cars, less chaos. This has not only broadened his horizons but also broadened his mind-frame. Sicily, in particular, resonates more with Borg’s current state of mind.

Wied Sabbar, Mġarr ix-Xini, 2022

The exhibition title is, therefore, very telling. The point of view that we see in Borg’s paintings is also very much a reflection of who he has evolved into as a person today. One can notice that there are more paintings of Sicily creeping into his oeuvre as Borg finds himself more and more attached to the larger Mediterranean island. He is slowly transitioning to spending more of his time in Sicily; away from Malta, a land that he calls home but which he feels somewhat betrayed by.

The paintings, therefore, portray ‘fragments’ of Maltese landscapes that are distant in spirit, that are juxtaposed with new inspirations from another land and again, in his words, “hence, distant fragments of Malta”. Sicily now feels like his castle, his stronghold, where he finds refuge, away from a degenerated place we call Malta.

Antica Avola Day’s End, 2019

Blood Moon, 2023

CCTV Modica 1, 2023

Fragmented Landscape – Comino, 2022

This is an artist who is sensitive to his surroundings and, despite his feelings towards Malta today, he still manages to seek out beauty in the Maltese islands. This is amply evidenced in the several landscapes that he has immortalised in the paintings in this collection. In his mind, though, these scenes will not be forever present and should not be taken for granted.

With Borg, it is very much a case of ‘festina lente’, the oxymoron in Latin meaning “make haste, slowly”. It may take him a while to decide something but once he has made up his mind, there is no going back and progress is swiftly made. A very conscious and calculated progress too.

Fragments, curated by Charlene Vella and hosted by Palm Court Lounge, The Phoenicia, Floriana, is on until February 28.