Conspiracy theory revisited

After the inauguration of his first solo exhibition at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta, Fabrizio Ellul was approached and offered to set up an exhibition in Frankfurt, with which Żabbar, his hometown, has a twinning agreement.

The works he is presenting in Germany are altogether characterised by a very different spirit to those exhibited in Malta. In comparison to the nine large paintings which comprised the exhibition at the Fine Arts, Mr Ellul's new works almost look like miniatures - albeit commercialised miniatures, in the shape, size and format of a postcard; compact in size, but dense with meaning.

Mr Ellul has chosen to title his exhibition The L9 Conspiracy Theory which per se sounds like quite an ambiguous conundrum to fathom and relate to this series of works. It thus deserves some form of explanation: L9 is simply the name of a railway track in Berlin, while the Conspiracy Theory is related to his personal views and ramblings regarding politics, religion and other events/happenings occurring post-September 11. The two are not in any way correlated; they are simply a whimsical mesh of ear-pleasing sounds.

This exhibition combines a variety of aspects of the painter's artistic nature - such as his wit and crude sense of humour, as well as his interest in contemporary art and culture of which he is often critical and contemplative. These qualities have been conjoined and transformed into a concern which has become the central theme of his works. His "postcards" (for lack of a better descriptive word) are almost a mockery of the beautified yet typical landscapes/seascapes which we are more than accustomed to seeing on sale, if not also "guilty" of purchasing from souvenir shops in tourist venues.

There are no mountain-tops depicted here, or flowing seas and rivers.

Rather, Mr Ellul is presenting us with a very different array of images as an alternative view to the scenes reflecting the physical beauty, heritage and culture of any given country. Instead, he has taken some mundane, or iconic and even memorable instances in history and twisted them around so as to create a personal statement; this is further enhanced through the trend and collective gathering of these images - this statement is sometimes political, other times it contains mild nuances of eroticism or vulgarity, and with others still it is simply a Kodak-moment with the addition of an element of disturbance.

Admittedly, Mr Ellul might not be painting a pretty picture, yet it is apt and direct - no frills or hidden meanings have been attached to confuse or inhibit viewers from comprehending their message. His is a statement for the consumer society, which is also directed towards our industrial-cum-technological revolution. All the picture-perfects have strong elements of imperfection. They are as imperfect as our world and our very beings.

Mr Ellul is essentially a very young painter who is evolving and distinguishing himself among his peers rapidly. His paintings constitute a nucleus in themselves and one can hardly attribute a whole string of Maltese influences to his name, as is the case with many other young artists. If anything, Mr Ellul looks beyond our shores for influence and inspiration, and does not limit this inspiration solely to other visual art forms but also extends and dips into the realms of history and literature. In fact, in his first exhibition one could easily detect his preoccupation and interest in American art - specifically with the periods commencing with abstract expressionism. He seems to be quite "hung up" with popular culture - not in terms of Lichtenstein, or Warhol, but a neo-Pop culture which incorporates a larger and wider spectrum of contemporary issues.

His concerns as a painter have thus changed - his initial interest in abstraction slowly seems to have fizzled out, and has been replaced by an ever-increasing aptitude towards that which is representational, yet non-conformist. Colour and texture of paint originally played an almost exclusive role in his paintings, yet line and concept are steadfastly balancing out this initial monopoly. He has also introduced a child-like naïveté in his works, whereby faces are often scribbled out or roughly coloured in with no regard being paid to lines or borders. So much so that some of these works have a quasi colouring-book effect to them.

From abstract to figurative; from expressive to linear... a complete cycle one might say, or simply a natural and healthy progression of events? Will the concepts within his inquisitive mind suffice to be manifest on a two-dimensional plane or will they gradually be translated into something more literally tangible? The questions abound, and the uncertainty of the outcome is pleasing...

• L9 Conspiracy Theory is on show at the Eschborn Museum in Frankfurt until June 29.