The artists at work.

Being Us is a visual conversation between Mario Abela and Justin Falzon, two artist friends regarding the essence of life, bringing together a body of work that both artists address in their own way by means of their own, individual expression.

Their works reflect Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialist idea to life, that is that the world has no meaning and it is our own actions that form our character. Both artists believe that from conception, humans are on a constant journey to find their self through free will and personal decisions which are subject to the culture they are born in. It is here where these artists meet.

Mario’s works look more into the things that mould our life, whereas Justin's works look into what will give an end to all this, death. It is through such conversations that these two artists manage to come up with a thought-provoking body of work (drawings and paintings). This brings two opposing aspects under analysis; is it important to live without thinking about death, or is it important to think about death to feel alive?

Mario Abela, an artist, graphic designer and lecturer in Fine Arts who is based in Malta, uses charcoal drawings, collage, video and sound that depart from the metaphysical, scientific theories and history.

Through a juxtaposition of images, chance and, sometimes, sound what starts as storytelling, becomes an exploration into fantastic, dislocated visual and auditory works.

This puts concepts like time and chance under analysis, to establish how these determine the interpretation of the past and sometimes forecast the future. 

Justin Falzon is an artist specialising in drawing, painting and printmaking. He is currently based in Malta, where he also teaches at the Visual and Performing Arts school, Gozo. He has shown his work both in collective and solo exhibitions, in several countries, and his work is found in several private and public collections around the world.

Being Us runs from May 11 until June 8 at Art..E Gallery, Victoria.