Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1382687
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 JUNE 2021 4 ART DIN l-Art Helwa has reached another milestone in its efforts to safeguard Malta's artistic heritage. Taking advantage of the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, Giuseppe Mantella Restauri were finally able to complete the restoration of the sev- enth and last painting by Mattia Preti, at Sarria Church, 'St. Michael the Archangel's Victory over Evil' Thanks to the financial support offered by Spar- kasse Bank Malta, the work has been completed and the lunette returned to its place high up on the left below the cupola as one enters the circular Sarria Church in Floriana. Of the seven paintings present in this unique building, this presented the most serious chal- lenges. So much so, that, prior the restoration, multi-disciplined diagnostic analysis and 3D sur- veying had to be carried out on it with the col- laboration of the University of Malta and several universities in Italy. The archangel can now be seen in all his glory wearing the robes of a Knight of the Order of Mal- ta. He is accompanied by a host of angels defying the crowd of devils. It is a representation of the victory of all that is good over evil. This church and all the paintings adorning it were a thanks- giving pledge by Grandmaster Nicolas Cotoner to the Immaculate Conception and the Saints for the freeing of Malta from the Plague of 1676. It is hoped that the completion of restoration will see the end of the Covid 19 epidemic which has brought life to a quasi-stand still in recent months. Mattia Preti's St Michael the Archangel's Victory over Evil restored BLITZ Valletta is reopening the doors of its galleries on 18 June, after the long hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The occasion is Gravity, an exhibi- tion inspired by the force of at- traction and its inexorable effect on human bodies, making it an ideal point of departure into a contemporary investigation of a traditional genre of art history – the body and its representation – which has re-emerged as crucial topic after the outbreak of the pandemic. Curator Sara Dolfi Agostini will be welcoming the members of the press by appoint- ment in person on the opening day from 3 pm until 8 pm. The exhibition features art- works by a group of Maltese and international artists, namely Kane Cali, John Coplans, Jesse Darling, Simon Fujiwara, Eva Kotátková, Adrian Paci, and Pierre Portel- li. Also, for the first month, the exhibition is extended to OPEN, Blitz Valletta's online platform (www.blitzvalletta.com), where Adrian Paci's video work will be streamed online with free access, as well as by Victoria Gate in Val- letta, where two new public art sculptures by Pierre Portelli and Kane Cali will be accessible day and night. Gravity engages with a group of artists whose work demystifies the narrative of progress that pol- itics and media have driven into our societies. In their practices, the presence – or absence – of the body signifies social orders and cultural targets, while its im- agery connects to identity and survival, freedom, and oppres- sion, challenging a disconnect with nature which affects identity as much as social confidence. The exhibition kicks off with John Coplans' poignant au- to-portraits which defy the clas- sic iconography of male power and invulnerability, and Pierre Portelli's installation featuring several local rocks reflected in the space via mirrors, including one especially endowed with a pros- thetic Victorian eye. In Simon Fujiwara's mixed me- dia installation and Kane Cali's sculpture, bodies are fatalities of technological acceleration and new media dissonance, as soci- ety morphs into an antagonistic force. In Adrian Paci's video and Eva Kotátková's installation, by con- trast, it is privilege and political disruption that intensify social distress, and eventually provoke psychological malaise. In Kane Cali's and Jesse Darling's draw- ings, finally, the investigation ex- tends into otherness and failure, ordinary taboos that are both physical and linguistic. John Coplans, Lying Figure, Holding Legs, Four Panels. Courtesy John Coplans Trust and P420, Bologna (Photo Carlo Favero) Blitz Valletta reopens with Gravity, an exhibition inspired by the force of attraction