St Sebastien

Woody Allen once wrote that “God himself is silent. Now if only man would shut up”. It is true that the most divine of springs usually communicate through the golden realm of silence. Life has become an endless rush hour of to-do lists and commitments, all hurried forward to form part of some monotonous routine.

But what exactly are we so hurried to achieve? The answer usually lies at the stop sign. Today’s world has turned art’s most sanctified spaces into cafeterias and souvenir shops.

Sacred and silent temples where the mind was once able to consume art have now been associated, as Arthur Danto observed, with the consumption of food and the purchase of goods; fun parks. Consequently it has become harder to connect with our inner intellect, philosophies and emotions, harder to hear those sounds of silence. Nevertheless, they are still there and still being created.

The Floriana council presents an exhibition of drawings and oil paintings by Luca Cauchi, titled Sounds of Silence. It is obvious that art will always speak through silent thoughts and images, but the intention is also to provide the viewer with a stop sign to let this silence take you somewhere your car cannot.

The works consist of carefully calculated lines and strokes inspired by the old masters

When asked about the choice of title, Cauchi replies by saying that these works are the results of many hours working in his studio; in astounding silence. Cauchi is a young self-taught artist who strongly believes in the discipline of academy painting.

The work on display in his first solo exhibition is characterised by carefully-calculated lines and strokes inspired by the old masters and also some of today’s contemporaries. For example, in some of his works one may detect an awareness of the contemporary artist Roberto Ferri. However, Cauchi is digesting his sources and producing original works.

A profound interest in technique, combined with solid discipline, allows Cauchi to build his figures from scratch and subject them to the powers of imagination. Indeed, one will immediately realise his fascination with the human figure, depicted in a realism that is somewhat romantic, yet with baroque undertones.

His drawings give us a sense of the academia at work. He is well versed in the skills of observation, proportion, moulding and shading with the pencil evident in his life drawings.

However, a work that instantly struck my attention is entitled Mind & Heart. In it I see Cauchi’s true potential as a strong draftsman innovatively constructing his composition, but also as an artist reflecting his inner-most thoughts, searching and wondering about where silence may take the soul.

His composition is divided into two: the mind on the upper part strong and heavy-handed, while underneath its weight lies the heart, also strong but softer still. Yet both appear to be the sides of the same coin and likewise encircled within the same realm.

One cannot help contemplate in depth about this and I wonder whether this work in fact personifies Cauchi’s entire exhibition: the silent struggle between the mind and heart.

Cauchi’s paintings stem from the same quiet contemplation but with a vibrant passion for the wide range of tonalities that the oil medium provides the artist with. Oil is treated with close attention, working upwards in various glazes and handling skin tones with particular detail.

In painting, Cauchi not only reveals his academic approach but moreover a Caravaggesque influence in the way light is controlled. St Publius and St Sebastien are inventive in their depictions yet that element of traditionalism is kept in the way he applies the pigment. He is speaking with an old tongue in the way he builds his layers; nonetheless his subjects are treated with a contemporary light.

Publius is seated, robust and monumental, yet his face is cast in shadow while a shaft of light is thrown onto his torso. Shadows are too treated academically, worked thinly and allowing the eye to absorb light and not shade.

Perhaps in itself this symbolises Cauchi as an artist whose own light is concerned with anatomy and technique. Yet, he doesn’t fail to subtly reveal Publius’s iconography: the lion’s paw and tail, the palm frond of martyrdom and, of course, the halo.

The same can be said with Sebastien. The saint takes centre stage again illuminating a carefully worked anatomy in chiaroscuro with an added modern twist of the chained arrow symbolising his martyrdom.

Calmness breathes through his canvases, as if silence is the only instrument in which to conduct the viewer. Cauchi’s intention is simple yet perhaps daunting to the modern spectator. He simply wishes to invite you to stop for a moment and allow the value of silence take you on an inner journey.

Sounds of Silence shows until May 9 at the Floriana council.