Magdalena in ecstasy

A series of artworks based on Caravaggio is the focus of a solo exhibition by Claudia Vialaret taking place in Valletta.

Born in Nice, France, in 1954, Vialaret is both an artist and an art historian. Her main sources of inspiration come from classical and baroque painting. She is inspired by the chiaroscuro of Caravaggio, the ideal beauty of Ingres and the strength of Tintoretto’s compositions.

While trained mainly in painting, since 2005 she has been exploring the artistic possibilities of digital photography, recomposing real scenes with borrowings from classical art.

“In all of my research, I combine a historical vision and a contemporary technique to achieve a new kind of hybrid image”, Vialaret says of her work.

Her famous Caravaggesques series transports well-known scenes of Baroque realism into our world, transforming the clarity of the images by folding them in certain parts. This approach uses historical images and gives them an eternal touch.

Double portrait with Leonardo da Vinci

Her series On the other side is inspired by the paintings of Ingres and Tintoretto while representing them from a different viewpoint to that of the painters.

In her Double Portraits series, she uses yet another approach, merging portraits of the classical era with photographs of contemporary faces. This allows the characters to engage in an anachronistic and impossible dialogue.

■ Vialaret’s exhibition is being held at Fortress Builders, Malta Fortifications Interpretation Centre in Valletta until March 30. Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm (Tuesdays and Thursdays till 7pm) and Saturdays from 9.30am to 1pm. The exhibition has been set up in collaboration with the Embassy for France. For more information on the artist, visit www.claudia-vialaret.com.