Expression through minimalism

Fra Giuseppe in Balzan is fast becoming a very popular space with artists holding small-scale exhibitions. This venue is presently hosting 10 works by Stephen Saliba which have been specifically created for this place. Mr Saliba has managed to transform and inject the limited space with a dose of colour while simultaneously not undermining or impinging on the rustic character.

To the untrained eye, Mr Saliba's works might resemble random splashes of paint - yet they are anything but mere splashes of paint. The compositions of these works contain balance, weight and harmony - attributes which every work should rightly possess - and even though they might be far off from being realistically rendered, they have a strong aesthetic appeal, almost as though the simple and uncomplicated were a welcome visitor to the eyes. The exclusivity of the use of red and green enamel paint is also quite indicative, in that it is this alone which seems to be the connecting factor or underlying theme of these works - that is if I may be so bold as to suggest that there might be a theme.

The work which I feel epitomises this exhibition, and which marks Mr Saliba's style as purely minimalist, is the one titled Contrasting Reflections. This work is essentially made up of two strokes and two dots of paint - similar to two incomplete inverted question marks. I find this work particularly intimate... my eyes see two figures in the act of love-making, who instead of fusing and merging into one another, seem to have been drawn apart only connected at their extremities. The space between them, almost a gaping hole, could easily symbolise a womb - a welcoming recipient for a new life. It might also be the case that I am reading too much into this work, however, that is the brilliance and beauty of "modern art" and/or abstracts - colours, shapes, and indefinite forms can take on any meaning which the spectator may like to apply to it.

Notwithstanding my interpretation of the last work - only three of the works on show can be "labelled" as distinctly figurative. In one work, a seated winged figure is counterbalanced by a red block; although reminiscent of the poses so often offered by Fra Angelico in his Annunciations, the figure should not be confused with that of an angel, simply because this painting represents the frustrations of man and his fight for freedom. Another appealing work seems to portray a musician playing an undistinguishable instrument - interestingly, the notes emerging from this instrument seem to have taken a corporeal and physical identity, and indeed do take over the larger part of the black surface. The third work then represents a lonesome flame-like elongated figure, and as such is the only painting in which Mr Saliba has solely made use of red paint.

The artist's creative streak also branches into photography, for which he possesses quite a sharp eye for detail. This quality is not altogether eliminated in his paintings: it rather takes on a very different form and aspect, where details are softened, blurred and broken down to such an extent that they resemble some magnified organisms being inspected through a microscope.

Mr Saliba seems to have found his niche in art - he is evermore drawn to the minimalist idiom and as such reasserts and revives artistic notions which have mostly been propagated by Gabriel Caruana and the late Victor Pasmore.

• Mr Saliba's works are on show until the end of the month. More information may be obtained online at www.stephensaliba.com