My Mellieħa works

Abstract

Somewhere in the interweaving paths of memory is recalled a vast room with white walls upon which hung white panels in attendance at a tacit conference. Within this state of purity and serenity penetrates an appearance of nothingness, but such is only an appearance. Upon closer glance, the illusion is disrupted through a labyrinth inverted within negative space; the known world of Caravaggio’s art exploring its opposite and its essence. The above describes four large artworks by Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci which were temporarily exhibited at the University of Malta Valletta Campus. The white panels, formed of various multi-layered white materials such as limestone and marble, were positioned on a white surface, giving them an ethereal quality which sharply contrasts with the realism of Caravaggio’s paintings. The artist retains a manifest link with the object world with the inclusion of the playing cards and sheet music, a nod to Marcel Duchamp’s ‘embrayeur’ role. Schembri Bonaci’s re-working of the Italian painter’s card players and musicians and their mirroring speak about the transmutability of things, as do Luigi Pirandello’s characters: “Ours is an immutable reality which should make you shudder when you approach us if you are really conscious of the fact that your reality is a mere transitory and fleeting illusion, taking this form today and that tomorrow”. [Excerpt by Dr Nikki Petroni]