A major retrospective exhibition of works by artist George Scicluna is being held at Palazzo de La Salle, seat of the Malta Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in Republic Street, Valletta.

The exhibition, organised by the Art Discussion Group and curated by E.V. Borg, will be open up till December 23.

According to Borg, writing in 2002, Scicluna’s expression “is a journey of a soul in torment, a confession of a spiritual struggle, a factual account of a mental crisis that is both psychic and tangibly physical.

“The frenzied but vivid images are a scanning of the artist’s brain as good and evil struggle fiercely for supremacy in a bipolar stance. It is a feverish struggle fought to the bitter end.

“We witness the struggle evolving blow by blow and we are captured by its intensity. The conflict is fought with passion, verve and emotion. Although autobiographical, the work has a universal and cosmic dimension.”

This ‘blow by blow’ account is included in a 104-page catalogue launched at the exhibition’s inauguration last Friday. In the introduction, Scicluna writes:

“The first chapter (‘Charms of Gozo’) depicts the environment in which I was brought up and cared for. At the outset this book shows my studio with a still life and the palette I characteristically use, against an open, curtained window with the background of the Citadel, Gozo.

“These are the paintings that I produced at my mother’s house... One finds pictures illustrating particular characters who lived in the neighbourhood, in a purely Gozitan environment that I very much cherish as a Gozitan artist.”

The publication collates the critique which Borg wrote for each exhibition Scicluna held from 1985 to 2011, including a selection of recent abstracts that closes this account. Most of the works exhibited in the exhibition are included in the catalogue.

Apart from the softbound publication, a limited edition of 100 hardbound copies is also available.