Imsallab No 2

Jon Grech is an idiosyncratic artist in the visual arts scene. He seems to hibernate elusively for long periods, which are characteristically very productive journeys of self-discovery. His themes are varied. Technically, he is among the most gifted artists of his generation. His recent exhibition was eloquently titled Ex Voto.

Jon’s first mentor in the early 1990s was respected artist Raymond Pitrè. I first met Jon at Pitrè’s studio, in fact. I got to know his work before I got to know Jon, as the older artist was visibly enthusiastic that such a pure talent had chosen him to act as his mentor.

Jon had dropped out of university where he was reading for a Bachelors in History of Art and the older artist’s presence and counsel must have been providential at a particular time in his life characterised by personal battles and an artistic coming of age.

I was overcome by Jon’s work. It was love at first sight – these small expressionist canvases overflowing with powerful emotions, angst pouring out of each and every inch of pictorial space. Pitrè’s exclamations of admiration and awe, while a John Coltrane solo blared out of the speakers, were my introduction to a unique artist who in the years to come was to become a friend.

Small expressionist canvases overflowing with powerful emotions, angst pouring out of each inch of pictorial space

The term Renaissance Man fits Jon like a glove. He is a polyglot, a graduate in Latin and Greek. He possesses a mathematical brain, working out complex calculus with impressive ease of thought.

He is an excellent chess player and a master story teller. He is extremely well-read and knows the history of world art in depth. He also creates mind-boggling algorithms but, nonetheless, I feel that Jon is a world class visual artist, first and foremost.

Twelid No 1

The works in the Ex Voto exhibition are a fragmentary story of the life of Jesus Christ. I believe that this is the artist’s first endeavour into sacred art. Writer Alex Vella Gera, in his essay for the exhibition catalogue, discusses the ex voto significance as Maltese folk art.

Ex voto paintings are tokens of gratitude when the divine accepts the plea for intervention on behalf of the faithful. A miraculous re-covery from a life threatening illness or an unbelievable escape from the jaws of death would result in a tangible act of faith which, in most cases, used to be a small painting to immortalise the event.

The collections of ex voto paintings at the Mellieħa Sanctuary, the Ta’ Pinu Sanctuary in Gozo and the Żabbar Sanctuary are a veritable source of valid local folk art, a heritage which we sometimes tend to disregard and snub. The publication by the late artist Isabelle Borg, The Maritime Ex Voto, can shed more light on this phenomenon of local art.

Tħabbira

Jon’s exhibition is an act of ‘faith’, so its title is self explanatory. It is an artistic leap for him, an intimate personal prayer to an invisible deity. The fragmentary character of the actual paintings, the attention to detail, the relationship between limbs belong-ing to different characters in a staged setting, the renaissance springboard – all these come miraculously together in a few square centimetres of raw canvas, the pastels merging softly and sublimely.

A 2,000-year-old tale is told, but it is not the whole story. There are pieces of the jigsaw missing beyond the actual space of the painting. The identification of the owner of the limb can come across as a surprise. Maybe these are stories which conclusions are deceivably not obvious and foregone.

Żebligħ ta’ Kristu No 3

The documented development of Jon as a complex and mature visual artist is also fragmentary. So, one can claim that the nature of the works is autobiographical as well. Nothing short of a major retrospective of his work can redeem this. His numerous, angst-ridden expressionist paintings are scattered in private collections in Malta and overseas. It would take a huge effort to bring all the pieces of the diverse and impressive jigsaw puzzle that is Jon’s oeuvre into one whole homogenous picture.

The perception of the work of this major Maltese artist by the viewing public remains fragmentary at best, largely reserved to the lucky few who are his friends or have brushed shoulders with him at some point or other in the past.

The artist’s small collection of ex voto works was shown in a small, private chapel in Mosta, but the exhibition only rectifies the above in a small way. One can only hope that one day our prayers will be answered and the other important missing pieces of Jon’s oeuvre finally come together in a publication and retrospective worthy of the name.