Imagine seeing an image zoomed-in, in high resolution. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, photorealists produced works that appeared, well, photographic, obviously to show off painterly skills which cameras could not generate.

What Gingell has certainly grasped isthe production of beautiful imagery- Charlene Vella

I am uncertain about whether I enjoy looking at contemporary hyper-realist art or not. What makes it fascinating is the skill to reproduce reality so validly, and the ability to bring out different textures.

Therefore technical skill is a must. Imagination, however, is left to a minimum, because even colour choices are often borrowed exclusively from reality.

Hyper-realism is, in fact, an artmovement that has emerged in the early 2000s, and which is still very much in vogue in the contemporary pluralist art scene.

Frederick Gingell is presenting his third solo exhibition of paintings at Camilleri Paris Mode in Rabat. His work begscomparison with portrait and figurativeart, and is somewhat reminiscent ofhyper-realist art.

The difference between Gingell’s and hyper-realist paintings, is his choice of palette that incorporates a variety of colours which give his work a kaleidoscopic dimension. It is with colour that Frederick Gingell exercises his imagination most. Therefore what Gingell is doing is reproducing an image derived directly from reality, but giving it a personal twist.

As positive a trait as this is (because it shows Gingell’s ability to depart from nature and thus show creativity), the result is not as always pleasing, and is sometimes a bit too sweet.

Tactile qualities are nonetheless amply present and supple, and brushstrokes are dexterously applied to the compositions and breathe life into them.

The exploiting of colour in painting is not new; one need only think of the Impressionist philosophy which dates to approximately a century-and-a-half ago.

As much as I believe in Gingell’s genuine skill, I think he can produce more paintings of the calibre of Is-Sir and L-Isbaħ Waħda, which stand out for various reasons.

In the visual arts, especially in representational art, an artist is automatically competing with geniuses, with the world’s greatest masters of the past. Leonardo for painting and Bernini for sculpture, for instance. Such artists are remembered, acknowledged and studied because they were so great, and were even ahead of their time. Their legacy is sealed, and we can cherish and lavish in the product of their creative genius.

Understanding these giants is the key to creating great art. Not by copying, but by recreating, because so much has been done in the visual arts that there is little else to explore. After all, understanding and improving on existing art and nature is what these great artists aimed to do.

Originality is difficult to achieve when so much has already been done. And kudos to those who try. One cannot even slash his own canvas to attract attention because it has already been done by Lucio Fontana (1899-1968), whose work is currentlybeing exhibited at the Gagosian Gallery in New York.

This may be why some/many contemporary art exhibitions leave us cold, for we have expectations of what great art should be. And when it comes to representational art in particular, we cannot avoid comparisons.

And it is true that “disappointment is a sort of bankruptcy – the bankruptcy of a soul that expends too much in hope and expectation” (Eric Hoffer 1902-83).

Existing art is there for a reason. The greats studied ancient art themselves in order to create their masterpieces. And as Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) has cleverly remarked, “originality consists of returning to the origin”.

What Gingell has certainly grasped is the production of beautiful imagery. I have two favourites, the ones singled out above, which coincidentally happen to be renditions of Gingell’s father and mother respectively. They are therefore more meaningful and full of emotion and nostalgia.

Although these characteristics are also common in many of the other paintings, I thought they were a bit too strained; perhaps a result of the artist trying too hard. They are consequently not as successful as the ones singled out above.

Unlike the rest of the exhibits, Is-Sir and L-Isbaħ Waħda, are of better execution and more subtle in their approach to the subject. Is-Sir, for example, is an image of a technical drawing teacher facing a blackboard which is the transparent foreground of the picture plane, with the admired teacher at work.

The subjects of Gingell’s paintings are intriguing nonetheless, and are ample proof of him being extremely sensitive to his surroundings.

This sensitivity is translated into the broad colour scheme employed in his paintings, seeing colours in objects that would to other people’s eyes seem block sections and insipid.

Camilleri Paris Mode must be commended for allowing space for artworks to be exhibited, and for the tasteful arrangement and hanging of paintings.

‘…fis-skiet’ is open at Camilleri Paris Mode, Rabat, until May 25.