A current exhibition at the flagship store of Camilleri Paris Mode, in Rabat brings together three artists of similar temperament. Titled Fuq Tlieta, (loosely translated as ‘on three’), the saying ‘fuq tlieta toqgħod il-borma’, used quite regularly among the Maltese-speaking, hints at balance, at an equilibrium that in the days of old was reflected by the ‘borma’, a cauldron of sorts, in which the daily meal would slowly be cooking. Usually, the cooking utensil had three small legs on which it rested that provided it with much-needed stability.

Camilleri Paris Mode have for years been showcasing fine interior design and craft. In the discipline of interior design, the rule of three postulates that things arranged in odd numbers are more intriguing and more appealing than even-numbered collections of objects. Three seems to be a magic number in design too.

Three Pawl Carbonaro landscapes

So, having three artists exhibit in a retail space dedicated to fine design is auspicious on many levels. The art of Pawl Carbonaro, Jesmond Vassallo and Paul Camilleri creates conversations among the different pieces and extrapolates it further to include the objets d’art and furniture present in the retail outlet. The viewer can thus visualise how art can look in a domestic setting.

Carbonaro, one of the important veterans in the Maltese art scene, has been creating art for over half a century. He flourished into one of Malta’s outstanding contemporary artists, besides helping establish modernism at a time in the late 1960s and early 1970s when young blood was needed to bolster the pioneering work of the previous generation of Maltese artists, the generation that had introduced modernism into our country. His abstract style elicits comparisons, especially with the oeuvre of Italian artist Afro Basaldella (1912-1976). However, one can also decipher hints of Emilio Vedova, Frans Kline, Pierre Soulages, Helen Frankenthaler, Hans Hartung and Alberto Burri in Carbonaro’s abstraction.

From left, Jesmond Vassallo, Paul Camilleri and Pawl Carbonaro

His abstracted landscapes document impressions of geographical locations. He adopts a Richard Diebenkorn/Nicolas de Staël perspective in the use of fields of pure colour, a chromatic celebration of joy in the absence of humanity. Carbonaro is a pantheist, an admirer of nature in its various manifestations. His abstracted depictions of the once-pristine seaside village of Marsalforn and the majesty of Ta’ Ċenċ cliffs, among other Gozitan locations, demonstrate his love for the sister island; since the mid-1990s, he has permanently left Malta to take residence in the hilltop village of Żebbuġ.

"Abstraction is prevalent in all three artists’ works"

Vassallo, whom Carbonaro often claims to consider as the son he never had, is a versatile artist who experiments and is comfortable expressing himself in most media. His enterprising and adventurous spirit led him to refine his abilities in the graphic arts in which he is also considered to be a master. A purist at heart, he explores ancient venues in his production of graphic art. 

A landscape by Jesmond Vassallo

Vassallo’s creative wanderlust was conducive to his artistic evolution – he has investigated most of the visual art genres. His nudes and his landscapes show a mature artist who has managed to impart an instantly recognisable fingerprint, the fruit of years working and exploring the possibilities of the two genres. However, his relatively recent forays into the still-life genre have revealed another side to him.

The stylised depictions of flowers, utensils, vases, containers, paintbrushes and other studio-associated paraphernalia are sublimely brought together by Vassallo in compositions portraying his studio’s interior; paintings that are chromatically very striking and that evoke the sharpened graphical qualities of Bernard Buffet’s work in the same genre. Sometimes, the Maltese artist integrates other themes into his still lifes, studies of portraits or nudes in some cases, thus adding further narrative strength to the piece.

A Paul Camilleri abstract

Unlike the work of his two colleagues, Camilleri’s sprawling canvases do not straddle abstraction and representation. His style is fully abstract and geometrical, at times evoking British artist Victor Pasmore. However, one is more inclined to find comparisons with the more stylised abstract work of two other British artists, Patrick Heron and Roger Hilton as well as with the output of French artist Serge Poliakoff. Being a relative newcomer to the Maltese art scene, Camilleri shows a pronounced sensitivity towards abstraction and a definite compositional fingerprint. He exploits his palette accordingly, at times using subdued colours, suggesting chromatically peaceful compositions that are earthily mellow; at other times, he uses screaming yellow, nevertheless evoking a spiritual balance. It is this spiritual balance that is particularly striking in Camilleri’s works, that is besides their very considerable dimensions.

Another Paul Camilleri abstract

Lisa Gwen, the curator of Fuq Tlieta, says: “The linearity of Camilleri’s ‘abstract’ works (most have titles which give context and meaning) is complementary to the strong sense of line and shape in Vassallo’s work; then one finds sharp contrast in Jes’s interiors vis-à-vis Carbonaro’s luscious land, sea and streetscapes. Abstraction, to some extent or other, is prevalent in all three artists’ works, as is a very strong sense of colour, shape and texture.” It is these complementary attributes that cohere the whole exhibition, creating dialogue between the paintings themselves as well as fomenting discourse with the artefacts that populate the different spaces and habitats at Camilleri Paris Mode.

Fuq Tlieta, curated by Lisa Gwen and hosted by Camilleri Paris Mode of Rabat, is on until the end of October. Visit the Camilleri Paris Mode Facebook page for more information.