A series of 23 paintings depicting the drama and suffering of war and mortality has been put up at the St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity.

Called WW (World Wars), the exhibition by Tonio Mallia features portraits of individuals caught up in the events surrounding wars.

The pictorial essays are executed in water media on hand-made rice paper.

In the preface of the exhibition catalogue, Richard England says that when he first saw this “series of unsettling images of the orgies of war”, he recalled the verses of war poets as the verbal equivalents of the artist’s pictorial works – especially those of the quintessential British World War I poet Wilfred Owen, author of some of the most heartfelt and animated verses ever written.

It was Owen who wrote “all a poet can do today is warn”.

This is what Mr Mallia also sets out to achieve in these complex watercolour, acrylic and ink renditions, he adds.

Inaugurated on Friday at the Upper Gallery, St James Cavalier, the exhibition will be on until May 12.

It is open to the public on Mondays and Tuesdays from 9am to 5pm, on Wednesdays and Fridays from 9am to 9pm and on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 9pm.