Victor Agius is a young painter and sculptor who does not allow much time to go by without putting up an exhibition. His name features frequently among the many ‘art’ press releases, whether solo or collective. He is obviously a good PR man and knows how to make his presence, and artistic output, felt.
Producing so many exhibitions means he must come up with new work to exhibit, and this has always been the case. Thankfully, he shows promise and his output has improved in artistic quality and technique.
Buildings are protagonists in his paintings. They are buildings of weight, cubes with no windows or doors – buildings of a ghost and dreary town, with church domes and bell towers predominating. The most explicit is Attard.
Għarb from San Dimitri, a sfumato-infused painting, the lonely church seen from the hill situated behind, is similarly denuded of detail, as is the surrounding landscape of this idyllic node in Gozo.
The essential is the form of the church which is the focal point of the composition.
In Żurrieq, the main feature is also the church, now relegated to one side of the composition, but retaining its presence as a focal point of pictorial interest.
More detail is employed in other paintings, such as in Msida. This may be due to the length of time between the production of one painting and another, and perhaps also due to the reworking of some paintings.
It may very well be that the paintings with the most satisfactory result are the ones Agius produced more spontaneously, from sketches he produces on site.
The hilly Gozitan landscape features prominently. Il-Fanal is a particular case in point. Scenes from Malta also feature, and modern buildings and building complexes such as in Portomaso do not fail to feature.
Composed of a mixture of oil and acrylic paint on panel, the execution of the landscapes compliments the aesthetic, and is agitated, and animated by expression, paint applied in broad brushstrokes and paint that is allowed to bleed (drip) to the confines of the support.
All of this further contributes to what I like to call the feel of the compositions. The visual appeal is heightened further with the inclusion of a sensitive use of stucco that Agius uses with impressive skill.
A grainy texture features more prominently in Agius’ mixed media on canvas abstracts that also make use of objet trouvé.
The chromatic scheme of his paintings varies from earth colours to a brighter palette where fuchsia dominates. Indeed, this colour is a thread that runs through several of the exhibits, such as Għasri, Rabat and Villaggio Maltese.
But paintings are not the only exhibits on show in ‘Borne Expressions’. Another genre features – sculpture.
Agius has also previously exhibited sculptural pieces, but here again, there is development. They show promise. Nonetheless, I would like to see more of his sculptural work to comment further.
Agius is a tenacious person who deserves credit for continually striving to learn new techniques and artistic processes by furthering his knowledge on art, locally and abroad.
‘Borne Expressions’ is open at Opus 64 Galerie, Tigné Street, Sliema, until Saturday.