Ceramic artist Paul Vella Critien is showing his works at the Cavalieri Hotel, St Julian’s, up to July 5.
The exhibition is a vibrant, dynamic expression of a romantic and passionate artist- E.V. Borg
The exhibition is a vibrant, dynamic expression of a romantic and passionate artist with 30 years’ experience as a painter, sculptor and ceramist.
His work Sogno d’Oro, which gives the exhibition its title, is an example of the way Vella Critien expresses his dreams, fantasy and frenetic inspiration.
But the piece that best represents the man is arguably Pietà – Sunset, showing a sun that perhaps has lost some of its power at the end of a dying day but has gained in intensity and maturity in resplendent glory.
A series of land- and seascapes of deceptive simplicity and economy are popular versions of chunks of our environ-ment, enclaves of beauty turned into poetry with universal implications.
Wied il-Għajn and Veċċa, St Paul’s Bay are nostalgic haunts that evoke in the artist recollections and memories from his youth, of wonderful summer days near the beach struck by reflections of boats in placid water broken by ripples that distort colour and form. Marsaxlokk, with dgħajjes tal-latini, and Grand Harbour, with a sleek sailing boat,hark back to traditional romantic works by Gianni Vella (1885-1977), Paul’s grandfather and mentor, which fuse the artist’s Maltese background with his Italian studies in Faenza and Ravenna.
Valletta Fish Market, Birkirkara Farmhouse and Country Chapel are more pedestrian but suggest serenity and tranquillity.
These majolica plaques are used merely as a white ground or canvas, using glazes and oxides applied with a brush to achieve the pittorico or painted surface in a blazing kiln. The molecules of the oxides fuse in the molten clay and the ephemeral becomes permanent. Only those who are very familiar with glazing techniques can appreciate such virtuosity.
The artist exhibits a selection of abstract and figurative works unique in quality and creative invention. Vella Critien’s ideal reaches monumental dimensions in his fountain Sfera della Vita, inaugurated at Sta Lucija’s Chinese Garden last year.