Abstraction allows man to see with his mind what he cannot see physically with his eyes” – Arshile Gorky.

There was a time when abstraction in art was, as Wassily Kandinsky conceived it, an expression of the spiritual, of that which is beyond the solidly representational. The symphony of colour and form addressed art like a prayer, like an invocation that transcends reality, as a reflection of the inner spirit.

Anthony Spagnol’s oeuvre, since his first exhibition in the early 1990s, always concerned the spiritual, even from his first figurative paintings, thematically linked to biblical personages. The chromatic quality of these early paintings impregnated the fabric of the painting with a profound meaning and effective symbolism.

Through abstraction, Spagnol then carried these qualities forward; the genre lends itself more to expressions of the intangible, such as mysticism, faith and other otherworldly manifestations. Along the years, the duality of representation and abstraction has defined his oeuvre; Spagnol continued to explore the possibilities of both, without exclusion and preference towards a single mode of expression.

“We live in a world where we do not have control over everything; just think of COVID-19 and the Ukrainian war,” Spagnol remarks. “These new developments have created uncertainties of large-scale dimensions in every aspect of our lives and our planet is still bleeding. The theme of uncertainty presented an occasion to express myself, rendering my artistic process a mystery to predict. The process resembled a search because, at its commencement, nothing was stable or secure. As an artist, I strived to find the path to complete the process, until my inner soul suggested that I had reached the end of it.”

Since the start of 2020, social media, news agencies and other sources have bombarded us with images of people, in various venues, exhibiting the symptoms of COVID-19 and the terminal danger of this new scourge.

Artists all over the globe, marooned to their studios, searched the internet and media outlets for images that they could interpret. The powerful stench of death could be encountered in the photos and footage of hospitals’ wards and corridors, besides other venues. This provided abundant material for figurative artists who transformed their canvases or moulded their sculptures into ‘stations’ of suffering, invoking lamentations and entreaties to the divine.

Abstract artists, such as Spagnol, were obviously not immune to the visual onslaught. There is significance in the choice of title for this exhibition, Mystery and Process. This series of 20 canvases that Spagnol embarked upon in 2019, thus actually before the start of the pandemic, is an exercise in evaluating mystery and processing it.

Uncertainty presented an occasion to express myself

Humanity is indeed in a state of flux, of change, for the better or the worse is still to be determined. The existential questions have become more unanswerable with each viral mutation and with each death in the face of the unnecessary Ukrainian invasion.

Spagnol’s abstracts are in a state of flux as forms threaten to coalesce and re-dissolve. Ultimate resolution is not what the artist is after as the colours effortlessly shift into tones, texture and rhythm.  Abstract art feeds on the subconscious.

The current state of world affairs is one of ambiguity and uncertainty, a leap into unchartered territories in which parameters relentlessly change. The artist, a consummate art conservator, intuitively knows how paint behaves and how the canvas reacts, a process that is unfathomable and is affected by various external factors such as environmental conditions. He uses this knowledge, this fruit of scrutiny, acquired through years of study, observation and dedication, and integrates it into his paintings. The vernacular of the art of times passed indicates pathways to a new language.

In curator Joseph P. Cassar’s words: “Spagnol’s work ranges from initial chaotic daubs of colour to more calculated strokes and other experimental processes, seeking a deeper meaning in the process of bringing the entire composition into a coherent whole. Each painting in this collection offers an intimate encounter and, when all works are experienced together, they compile a lifetime of fears, doubts, hopes and joys.”

Embracing Uncertainty… Unexpected Opportunities

This subtitle, which enhances the main title, is chosen by the artist to direct the audience and introduces the viewers to the framework of the creative process. There is an intimate dialogue and the interaction between artist and medium, a conversation that the audience is invited to contemplate amid the brushstrokes, the indecisions, the pentimenti, the reconfigurations.

Cassar emphasises: “The exhibition is about the mystery of the creative process, how the artist concretises his dreams and the ordinary is turned into sublime.”

We are, therefore, invited to assess the whole creative process as an exercise in accessing the abstraction of the subconscious.

Mystery and Process, curated by Joseph P. Cassar and hosted at the Art Galleries of the Malta Society of Arts (MSA) in Valletta, is open until July 14. Entrance is free. For opening hours and more details please visit www.artsmalta.org or www.facebook.com/maltasocietyofarts.

 

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