On existential freedom and the launch of a new gallery

Maltese contemporary art seems to be reinventing itself by diluting the shock factor and tackling contemporary arguments from a philosophical viewpoint. Maltese conceptual art and its associated manifestations of installations, video art and happenings were all the rage in the last two or three years of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st. The traditional art forms of painting and sculpture were put on the back-burner as the Maltese art loving public was introduced to novel ‘transgressive’ approaches. In the last few years, there has been a resurgence of the traditional art forms and many Maltese artists are non-anachronistically going back to the roots. It is in this spirit that The Gallery of 72, Psaila Street, Birkirkara has been launched as an alternative exhibiting space for artists that need an intimate space to display their art without the glamour of Fluxus-inspired drama. Wallace Falzon’s collection of painting and sculpture is its baptism. The Maltese artist’s first solo exhibition, Existential Freedom, is a take on two years of the life of an artist in the therapeutic act of expressing himself while overcoming personal and debilitating...