Fresh from a joint exhibition at the Horse Hospital in London, local artist Ruth Bianco chats to Jo Caruana about why the book art project tied to these works has been one of her most exciting to date.

Camouflage, Revolution and Desire – the publication.

Film is renowned as an art form that encourages us to see things differently. And visual artist Ruth Bianco, who is well-known on Malta’s art scene both for her independent work and international participation in significant exhibitions, is now helping us to do just that through her latest work, Camouflage, Revolution and Desire – Drawing From the Movies.

Within the context of collage it offers an enhanced celebration of art and film

This book art project and subsequent exhibition has been created with her colleague Richard Davies, and the two launched both works at the Horse Hospital venue in Bloomsbury, London, earlier this month.

As a feather in their caps, the book has already been accepted for sale at the Tate Modern, London, one of the world’s foremost galleries for contemporary and modern art.

“It has already been an incredible journey,” says Bianco, whose experience includes invitations to significant international exhibitions such as Dans la Nuit des Images at the Grand Palais in Paris and collections in both the Tate gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

One of the works that was exhibited in London.

She also currently lectures in art and design within the Faculty for the Built Environment at the University of Malta.

“This time round we have explored collage upon collage upon collage through self-publication. As a work, it amalgamates art and cinema, and reinterprets the collage process through explorations that unit filmic iconography with tactile, spatial and digital media in the graphic fine arts.”

The project was borne of Bianco’s and Davies’ mutual love of films and this type of art.

The two have been colleagues since they met at the University for the Creative Arts in the UK, where Bianco was studying and Davies headed the fine art postgraduate programmes.

“We have worked on various projects since, sharing a particular interest in exploring the potential of digital creativity and networked space in the contemporary arts,” Bianco says.

“This particular piece all began with a conversation, and we wanted to kick off a series of drawings from movies on the same size sketchpad in our respective countries. We then intended to amalgamate both into a collaborative artwork.

“Over the years I believe that a wide understanding of tactile, spatial, electronic, performance and exhibition methodologies has equipped me with the flexibility, energies and commitment invested in this joint work. I am also infinitely driven by international collaboration, travel and an insatiable desire to explore diversity, so this was the perfect opportunity.”

With the process in motion, the two jointly researched a range of cult, French New Wave films and their international influences, even travelling to Paris to extract memorable stills and frames.

“These have been freshly re-invented into new visual narratives at our choice, and the process took us four years in total. In that time we developed a working method, exchanging countless images between the UK and Malta to produce the book, and transferring and bringing out a series of collage works called After the Book – Drawing From Movies, as a further step in creating ‘post-productions’ from it.”

And while the project was first launched in the UK, it references Malta through the major local film Gaġġa, and places it in a context of international filmic references and connections.

“In this way, cinema has wide appeal and within the context of collage it offers an enhanced celebration of art and film,” Bianco says.

She also believes that the exhibition is set apart by the transformation of filmic images which have become part of their lives.

“We’re revealing new narratives through the artistic language,” she explains.

“Collage is mischievous, lawless and creative – all in one.”

Cinema, Bianco says, like collage has been notorious for revolutionising the cultural mentalities of society and the boundaries of art and screen, taking it well beyond the literal, tactile sense.

“Meanwhile, our passion to explore such connections also prompted the title. We looked at camouflage because of the way that both collage and film disguise the original to produce new appearances; at revolution to see how they have transgressed; and at desire to reflect on both the erotic and the human need for endless representation.”

The duo are both thrilled that the project has now been launched; especially as the Horse Hospital, its current location, has become a major venue for works of this kind and calibre.

“It is so exciting,” Bianco adds. “I have shown my work in various locations, but London remains particularly vibrant for its contemporary edge and wide audiences. I am absolutely thrilled to have been given this opportunity and can’t wait to experience the response, both in the British capital, and in Malta when we exhibit here later in the year.”

The joint exhibition will be shown at the Opus 64 Galerie, Tigné Street, Sliema (dates to be announced). Meanwhile, the book is available from the Tate Modern, London.

www.ruthbianco.com