AFTERMINIMALISM at Valletta Contemporary
Don’t be fooled - not every palazzo that gets restored in Valletta ends up as a boutique hotel. One notable example is the building that houses Valletta Contemporary, Norbert Francis Attard’s beautiful art gallery in East Street.
The exhibition currently showing there is called AFTERMINIMALISM and was co-curated by Norbert Francis Attard and Francesca Mangion. I was lucky enough (and rather keen) to be there for the curator led walk-through on the day of the official opening on April 12th. A passionate and knowledgable Francesca led us through the two (and a half) storeys of exhibition space, giving interesting insights into the concept of the exhibition, the artists and their works.
As I understood it, the exhibition can be roughly interpreted as “from the workshop of Minimalism”. The artists follow the methodology of the Minimalist movement - producing works in simplicity, harmony and order. The curators quote Frank Stella’s dictum “What you see is what you see” in the promotional text of the exhibition. On learning more about the individual art works I was reminded of another idea, developed by Korean artist Lee Ufan (I tell you more about him here) who says about his own art: “What you see is what you don’t see”. For me that was also very applicable here. You will understand what I mean when I tell you more about the works in Afterminimalism.
As you enter the gallery, ahead of you, on a wall that spans two storeys, hangs Ian Howard’s work titled ‘Stripes of Many Colours’; six rectangular panels - in acrylics on canvas - which epitomise everything that is great about Minimalist art. These panels play with geometry, simple lines and bold colours. They catch your attention and invite you to come and have a closer look. And having a closer look at these works means trying out different viewer perspectives and investigating the space the work inhabits.
Pure Minimalists favoured nonchalance over drama. They dismissed expression in their work; they had no pretences of it being biographical in any way either. Their art was sleek and unfussy, mostly focussing on the materials used and often blurring the lines between painting and sculpture, with works appearing architectural and merging into architecture.
Between them, the works in Afterminimalism tick all these boxes. There are light sculptures by Angela Bulloch and Hans Kotter. They attract you, they make you stare at the play of light.They surprise you when you find out what’s behind the colours: sliced up photographs in Kotter’s case, dissected film pixels in Bulloch’s. Brian Eno’s light box titled ‘Dianu' is installed in the former well of the building and incorporates his music, making for a slightly eerie experience deep below street level.
Liam Gillick’s works are like light sculptures too, but only in the sense that the construct itself works with the light that falls on it as they do not contain light sources themselves. Their materials are industrial, they are anchored to the wall, and made me ponder where best I would put them in my house so they catch the light to their advantage.
Almost all the works appealed to me to the point of wanting to take them home. Except maybe the most publicised of all, the famous spot painting titled ‘Mescaline’. You might love it or hate it, you might get a bit dizzy looking at it (well- its title suggests a mind-bending influence); and you might feel totally in awe - because it is, you know, a Damien Hirst. I think no matter how you feel about the work, you should definitely feel gratitude towards Norbert Attard for bringing it to Malta and giving you the chance to unceremoniously pop into Valletta Contemporary and take a good look at it.
Just be careful not to get carried away by it, and - like the “website that Malta loves” (or is it vice versa..?) - forget that this exhibition also includes the works of two eminent Maltese artists. Their work is there on the walls, close to Hirst’s in the downstairs gallery, definitely comparing favourably to ‘Mescaline’ and everything else that is on show. Both Maltese artists are firmly established in the contemporary art scene, Maxine Attard is based in Gozo, Patrick Mifsud in London.
Maxine’s pieces in this exhibition form part of her series of beadwork, to which she has now added a third dimension. Whereas her earlier beaded works were executed to appear like minutely carved reliefs, now her works are truly sculptural, yet wall mounted in the Minimalist tradition.
Maxine loves repetitive patterns and order, therefore she puts her beads in neat grids. And yet , there is still randomness in her compositions: patterns are incomplete, spaces are left white and colour blocks are added here and there. The untitled works in their plexiglass cases appear like pixelated Mondrians assuming three-dimensionality.
Patrick’s approach to art is more spartan and architectural. He gives you the skeletal frame and - if you like - you can make up the rest. Or you can just enjoy the simplicity he presents - he does away with all the extras, pares down his work to essential marks only. Marks that can be both: geometrical and organic. And - in his work titled ‘Equivalent - Geometrical Construct I’ - even site-specific and therefore rendered ephemeral.
On the upper level of the gallery Maxine and Patrick were sharing a space with the works of two South American artists, Ignacio Muv from Chile and Javier Vivas from Venezuela. I have to confess that I have a soft spot for Latin American art. I was introduced to it in a “speed dating with art’’ kind of way at the University of Malta during a condensed Liberal Arts course that quickly touched on South American art. That is when I discovered that it has its own special flavour.
Vivas’ paintings contain the clear lines and bold colours we associate with minimalist art, yet are more raw than you'd expect. Muv’s works are more idiosyncratic. He uses no canvas or frame, his works consist purely of paint that he puts through a process that makes it thick, soft and pliable. He then shapes it into wonderful sculptural forms.
The works that best sum up the minimalist brief for me are Richard Roth’s three dimensional paintings on wood panels. Everything that draws me to Minimalist art is present in his works. Their geometric patterns immediately attract the eye, their vibrant colours make them fun to look at and protruding from the wall in their three-dimensionality you have to resist temptation to touch them. Their simplicity is elegant and soothing.
Simplicity and doing away with everything that distracts you from what is essential is what Minimalism is all about. In Art as well as in life. To use a fashionable phrase, keep and do only what “sparks joy”.
So I suggest you go and have a joyful experience and visit Afterminimalism at Valletta Contemporary. It is on till the 17th of May. You might just want to replace that wall of pictures in your house with a single Minimalist masterpiece.
The photos in the gallery below were taken by me. If you want to enjoy more, probably even better, photos and want to keep informed about future activities follow Valletta Contemporary on Facebook or visit their excellent website.
If you would like to learn more about Minimalism click here
I have also written about Maxine Attard's art before here on this blog
