Joseph Agius and artist DAMIAN EBEJER discuss the art of his father, the Maltese literary giant Francis Ebejer currently on show at the Wignacourt Museum in Rabat.

“I regard my work… as a quest for that elusive nodus by which one becomes aware, however dimly, of that meeting point of contradictions – yet another paradox, inherent of action and reaction – inside one’s self as in life and, with luck, accept it as nuclear to the complete life.”

– Francis Ebejer

JA: The title, Francis Ebejer ‒ Echoes ‒ The Visual Other, suggests another artistic side of your father who is undoubtedly one of the giants of 20^th-century literature in Malta. The art world has many examples of protagonists who straddled genres. Do you feel that your father was their soulmate in this respect?

The poster of the exhibition.

DE: Francis always claimed that his first love in creative work was painting and drawing. At the age of nine, he was already writing short stories and poems. This, he said, “was a compulsion” for him and led him to start sending radio-plays to England where they were broadcast on the BBC. However, throughout his life of intense writing, he would continuously sketch and draw on the sides of manuscripts and drafts of his literary work while correcting and thinking. In the late 1970s and 1980s, he built up a realisable collection of artworks in his original manner and he went on to hold his first exhibition in 1991 at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta.

JA: From what I’ve seen, there is a strong dynamic force in your father’s paintings; rhythm and flow that reminds one, in a Maltese context, of the work of Josef Kalleya, and internationally, that of Andre Masson, Lee Krasner and the early Jackson Pollock. What was your father’s take on the general art scene?

DE: Once he told me that he had taken part in a collective exhibition with other artists. He had submitted two paintings. After the event ended, he had gone to collect his works and never found them. He would always say that one day he’d be invited to someone’s home for dinner or a few drinks and surprisingly find them there; he never did see them again.

Lone Victor

In 1992, Francis stated that he no longer wished to write three-act plays and full-blown novels and I believe he was ready to seriously take his drawing to another level and delve into paints and washes. On his desk I found a new set of acrylic paint tubes and a few brushes. Also, he had obtained a large pad of heavy acid-free paper for painting. One sheet had been started with what seemed a light wash of raw sienna paint for the background. It is quite evident that Francis was doing a 360-degree turnaround back to the roots of his first-ever endeavours in imagery and visual art. Sadly he left too soon, and we are in the dark to what his aspirations really were.

Some of the artworks at this exhibition are a combination of collages where he would cut pieces of drawings from his notes and include them on a particular work.

Menace

I chose the title Echoes because this exhibition is all about Francis’s early years of visual art creativity lapsing silently forwards to centre stage of his desires to use this side-stepped talent. I realised at the inauguration on June 6, and even as viewers came after the opening, that many did not know about this side of his artistic capacity.

JA: Was your father influential in your choice of career as an artist? Are there any anecdotes you would like to share?

DE: I have been asked several times whether Francis influenced me in my own artistic life. I realise that subconsciously he must have. Even in the choices of holidays and travel he would take me to historic locations that were seeped in art: Rome, Venice and Pompei, to mention a few. At home there would be books concerning artists and museums, poetry books and novels. He would occasionally look through my homework desk and seek out poems I used to write.

Interregnum

As a young boy he would take me along to visit Gabriel Caruana and Antoine Camilleri and others I do not recall. I drew on scraps of paper, played and modelled with clay, and he would buy me note pads in those days. Having said that, I must add that he never once mentioned that I should draw, paint or write. I was totally at liberty. However, later in life I knew he was pleased, and once, without my knowing, published a small book of my early poems and surprised me with it. So I guess that said much more than words of encouragement.

JA: If I remember correctly, your father’s plays and novels thematically concern society and relationships. His work is considered to be autobiographical and personal as well, and dealt with contradictions, dualities and symbols. Did your father consider the visual dimension of his art as complementary to his work as a novelist and playwright? Or was the launchpad altogether different?

DE: Even his literary masterpieces, although written a while back, are still very relevant today as they were when first performed on stage or published, if not more so. Many of these touched upon subjects such as the environment, human diversity and animal rights; subjects which are headline topics in today’s society and media.

Vanishing World

Maltese Madonna

Marina

Francis Ebejer, despite not having yet received the importance he deserves, is quite literally (no pun intended) the 20th-century genius of modern, contemporary art. I say this because throughout several discussions on the media concerning drama, literature and creativity, one seldom hears Francis’s name mentioned, let alone discussed. His works have been translated in at least 16 foreign languages besides in every English-speaking nation.

Hence the reason why I chose to remember Francis for his drawings and visual artworks on the 30th anniversary of his passing. I wanted to express a total view of his creative capa­city. I therefore invite everyone who has a keen interest in the arts to visit this extremely refreshing and informative exhibition highlighting Francis’s life and artistic career.

Francis Ebejer – Echoes – The Visual Other, curated by his son Damian, is hosted at Wignacourt Museum, Rabat, until June 30.