Panta Rhei ‘Everything Flows’
Rosette Bonello at the Rudy Buhler Art Gallery, Marsaskala, Malta 26th November – 22nd December 2023
We continue on the contemporary art scene in Malta this week, I was pleased to be invited to the launch of Rosette Bonello’s exhibition at Rudy Buhler’s gallery in Marsaskala. I had seen the catalogue for the exhibition so I was aware of how lively and energetic the work is, and, indeed, the overall sensation of going into the exhibition at the gallery is one of stepping into vibrant colour, each piece is an intense layering of mixed media, colour, texture, depth and emotions.
I was able to speak to the artist about her work which she describes as ‘arte informale’ as it’s not entirely abstract but neither figurative. She explained that each piece starts with the gold leaf, this, for her, is the soul of the painting and from where she works outwards. The process is one of using different materials to let the emotions speak, consciously or unconsciously, Panta Rhei, ‘Everything Flows’, as the title of the exhibition says.
I found the idea of using of gold leaf as a starting point really interesting, obviously, church is central to Maltese life, even if not practised as fervently as it used to be, the imagery presented by the plentiful Baroque churches and festas of gilded statuary and architecture is nevertheless infused into the cultural life of the island. Is that gilded imagery present in Bonello’s start point?
‘All’ Originae’, is a gorgeous sweep of blues, greens, yellows and golds, as ever, for me, it’s reminiscent of the sea, a dark sky, horizon and movement. It goes beyond that though, it’s the texturing through the use of multimedia, the surface is rippled, adding movement, while swirls of green, solid hoops of paint, energise it even more. A scrape of yellow skitters across the top of the frame creating a sense of starry skies. I’m not entirely fanciful in imagining the influence of the sea, the artist is from Marsaskala, a harbour town with a deep inlet, such that, as is often the case in Malta, the sea is inescapable. The artist acknowledges the influence of the proximity of the sea to her work but it’s not all blue seas and fishing boats.
Vibrancy and depth are the key motifs in Bonello’s work, a group of three paintings were hung together over by where a small band was playing, Unspoken Words, Fuori dal Tempo and Without Words. Here the dominant hues are oranges, golds, and reds. ‘Fuori dal Tempo’ the central, larger painting, is tempered by cool greens and whites but it’s a different key that comes across here, they feel more abstract, gone is the slim hold onto the horizon I imagined in ‘All Orignae’. Here, I feel, the artist produces a more pure expression of emotion. There’s more texture, scrunches of what looks like paper create surface ripples and there’s a wider range of colours, as well as the dominant oranges, reds and golds, there’s black, blue, green and white, creating a real depth that keeps the viewer looking and wondering.
The artist also candidly discussed ‘Marie Claire’ with me, this was titled after a very vibrant friend, ‘she loved dragonflies’ Bonello said. As soon as I heard that, I could see the impression of a dazzling dragonfly looking directly at the viewer, the jewel like colours, reds, greens, turquoise, bright blue, all hove into view while the textures and black droplets mingled to give that flitting sensation of beauty that accompanies dragonflies in flight. Fabulous!
It’s was really interesting to visit this particular exhibition immediately following my review of the Biennale at Mdina Cathedral Museum last week as you can see how the contemporary art scene in Malta is developing between public and commercial art. At a talk by the curator of the Biennale, he discussed how contemporary art in the Mediterranean is establishing itself beyond colonialism by reflecting its own idiom.
This could be seen by works that reflect on the very nature of the material of Malta such Isaac Warrington’s Ommok. In Bonello, we see the other side of the track emerging in commercial art, again, the artist is working her own idiom, tantalisingly reflective of something tangible in some instances and entirely abstract in others. To me, both of these exhibitions show the establishment of Maltese artists in their own right, sometimes working with the influences of Maltese heritage, but, also, importantly, as a reflection of their own synthesis of what contemporary art in Malta is or should be.
This is going to be a fabulous small exhibition, it is impossible to really appreciate the beauty, intensity and complexity of Bonello’s art from digital images and I’ve only touched on a few paintings from an extensive body of work on display at the exhibtion. If you’re around on the island, do drop into Rudy’s gallery and just engage with her amazing work.
Rita Fennell
Gallery Tart