A bunch of stereotypes can be a collective definition of a contemporary society that has morphed from the archetypical, male-dominated example into one in which the female of the species has progressively reclaimed a role predominant in ancient societies. 

The female divinities, central to a primitive pantheon, were firmly established in a proto-theology that drew on nature, astronomical phenomena and the recurrent seasonal transformations as inspiration for rituals that essentially celebrated fertility. 

Many archaeological discoveries, including those of the Maltese Islands’ Temple Period, have further confirmed the prominence of the fertile life-giving mother.  

Paleo-Christianity plagiarised this and transformed it into the image of Mary, the Immaculate and human Mother of Christ whose womb had nourished the divine embryo. 

The Byzantine and Gothic Eras irradiated the image of the Madonna with gold, the universal symbol of temporal power.

This iconography provided the Renaissance and the Baroque artists with a relentless supply of patrons, mainly the powerful Roman Catholic Church as well as an aristocracy that attempted to redeem itself from its evil ways by commissioning the great masters to paint sacred pictures and sculpt graven images. 

In a way, the cult of the fertility goddess persisted under new auspices – those provided by a Mariology that required its own symbols and rites.  An impressionable audience needed some tangible idol that could be worshipped, that would silently accept their sacrifices and that would deliver them from devilish temptation. 

Alms would guarantee their souls’ redemption and eternal salvation thereafter. Essentially, one fertility goddess succeeded another and quenched the spiritual needs of generation after generation. 

In his small collection of thematically-related paintings he refers to as Lady’s Artefacts, Wallace Falzon draws on the iconography and the archaeological ‘artefacts’ of the Maltese Islands’ Temple period.  

He cynically transports the corpulent goddess of fertility to a contemporary setting that excludes the anachronistic offerings of the produce of the earth in favour of sexy stilettos, a clichéd symbol of male sexual arousal. A Bulgari pendant hangs around the neck of another goddess, replacing some magical and archaic medallion. The Sleeping Lady takes off her bra as she reclines peacefully; her hands offer scant cover to her exposed breasts.  As is the case of the Old Testament Eve who suddenly became aware and ashamed of her exposed body, the naked mother goddess similarly warrants a bra to cover her nudity. 

 A latent impulse in some men seeks some sort of satisfaction via the exploitation of feminine vulnerability. The male author of Genesis who acted as the terrestrial representative of the male divine orator did so in his narration of the expulsion of Eve (and Adam) from the Garden of Eden. 

There is a sadistic pleasure in debasing the female image, sacred or otherwise, to a receptacle of male lust and chauvinism.

 Mary Magdalene, historically, has borne the brunt of the early male-dominated Roman Catholic Church; her only fault being that she was a woman and that she happened to be too important in the life of Jesus Christ.

The seeds of doubt were sown by Pope Gregory I when he falsely and chauvinistically declared that the Magdalene and the adulteress were one and the same person, a fallacy that still stubbornly persists to this very day. There are a number of examples in the recent history of art where iconography from the primitive and classical periods has been re-interpreted, as Falzon did, to forge new artistic paths.

 One can mention Michelangelo Pistoletto’s installation, Venus of the Rags, in which a copy of a classical statue of Venus, the goddess of love and fertility, offers its back to us and is juxtaposed against a backdrop of a large pile of coloured discarded clothes. One can maybe see some parallels with Falzon’s ‘artefacts’; discarded clothes can be defined as such. One can also mention Yves Klein’s appropriation and re-modelling of the image of the famous Louvre’s Venus de Milo and its beheading and ‘desecration’ as a kitsch icon while immersing it in International Klein Blue.

He cynically transports the corpulent goddess of fertility to a contemporary setting

This was an artistic statement that produced a ripple effect across the Atlantic. He reproduced a number of it anticipating American Pop Art and Warhol’s multiples.  Jim Dine has also used the Venus de Milo imagery sans the remodelling but with intentional decapitation, in both his sculpture and painting.  

Delicately Crude, the title of Falzon’s second personal exhibition at The Art Gallery, Psaila Street, Birkirkara, is an oxymoron that defines this collection of sculptures and paintings. 

The rough texture of the sculptures somehow reinforces the perception that the characters so poignantly portrayed are psychologically vulnerable icons of a 21st century society or a modern day pantheon. Although there is an existential cry for release and an artistic nod towards the oeuvre of Alberto Giacometti as well as that of Germaine Richier, Falzon has steered away from a facile categorisation of his work as Giacomettian by conceptually eliminating altogether the negative angst component of the pain of existence and replacing it with a positive and altruistic message. This is the narrative of each and every one of his sculptures. 

The conceptual origins of some of these slender and delicate works are dark. However, there is a promise of a release from the darkness.  In the case of Breaking Free, this could be the emergence from existential quagmires that lead to psychosis.

Or the turning of a new page in the story of a life  through a divorce and that liberates one from the entrapment of a collapsed relationship.

The serrated blade severs ultimately any hindering residual emotional attachment. Falzon’s personal setbacks and his determined searching for a light at the end of the tunnel are mirrored in this painfully heartfelt work.

Take the Lead metaphorically reverses roles in a pet/owner relationship where the dog takes its hesitant owner for a walk in the neighbourhood. The canine wants to break free of the tether that links it to its owner who is under duress and would otherwise lose his balance. 

The moments of the force in this relationship could be abruptly re-distributed, thereby breaking the bond, something which the dog is willing to risk in pursuit of a new adventure. The owner has realised that such a severing of a bond would result in a reality check and a coming down to earth with a bang. 

However, this sculpture is an elegiac tongue-in-cheek representation of a relationship, one that has its equivalent in any intra-human situation of love and respect.

The Female Stereotype and The Shopper are representations of Maltese 21st century women. The elegant Female Stereotype can also be The Shopper depending on which circumstances are relevant at a certain point of the day or of the week. 

One of them can readily morph into the other as the shopping bag- laden, busy shopper returns home with her load of goodies. 

A credit card is indeed a girl’s best friend in a time of need. Thus, she would be able to embellish her appearance as she transforms herself into the female stereotypical and successful career woman out to meet friends or on a date.  

The designer bag, the latest mobile phone are liberating status symbols that declare she has made it career-wise and has what it takes to join the in crowd. For her, the possession of material things and her immaculate, reality TV-inspired, outward appearance is what accomplishes her and makes her world go round. Everything else is fickle and of no consequence and nothing matters as long as she is confident and materialistically happy.

Falzon has expressed the positivity of closure so eloquently in the sculpture of a man emerging triumphantly from a tight fix that had rooted him so firmly to the ground. 

Unlike the desperate humanoid figures that populate the oeuvre of Alberto Giacometti, Oozing out Triumphantly is a release of sorts from a predicament and celebrates a personal renaissance. A modern-day Sisyphus, overwhelmed by the back-breaking load of accumulated financial debt, heroically defies the strain this unnecessary mass of commitments exerts on his existence. 

He could easily toss it aside and run a thousand miles away from it all. However, he deters from doing so as it would emasculate him in front of his peers.

Quoting Giacometti, “I paint and I sculpt to get a grip on reality”,  this collection of works by Falzon is his delicate grip on a reality which might be crude in texture, but which needs to be handled delicately as it is ever so fragile.

Otherwise, one would run the risk of it breaking into a thousand pieces that could never be re-assembled.

For a private viewing, send an e-mail jandmagius@gmail.com.