Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1538990
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 AUGUST 2025 ART Giorgio Preca and Ryan Falzon in a Conversation Across Time at the Malta Society of Arts THE Malta Society of Arts (MSA) is proud to present Still Life | Life, Still, a major exhibition that brings togeth- er the works of Giorgio Preca (1909–1984), one of Malta's foremost modernist painters, and contemporary artist and author Ryan Falzon (b. 1988). Curated by Giulia Privitelli, the show explores the still life gen- re as a bridge across time – an encounter between two art- ists who never met, but whose works now resonate in dialogue – at the MSA's historic Palaz- zo de La Salle in Valletta. The exhibition, an initiative of the MSA itself, opens on Thursday 28 August and runs until 18 S e p t e m b e r 2025. T h o u g h widely recog- nised as a lead- ing voice of Maltese mod- ernism, Giorgio Preca remains an artist whose personality and artistic process are still un- d e r - e x p l o r e d . Having lived much of his life between Malta and Rome, Pre- ca engaged with international art circles while never severing his connection to the Maltese cul- tural scene. His body of work is expansive – from portraits to religious compositions, imagi- nary figures and vivid scenes of everyday life – yet for Still Life | Life, Still, the focus rests on his still lifes, a genre that reveals a more radical side of his prac- tice. "His still lifes tremble with a kind of restlessness, pushing at the limits of both materiali- ty and subject matter," explains Privitelli. "They are not merely academic exercises, but medita- tions on time, memory, and the unseen. Paintings, in a sense, are themselves still lifes – resist- ant to time." The works on display have been carefully selected by Priv- itelli from Maltese collections and from Preca's Rome studio, with the help of his son, Mas- simo Preca. "The distinctive feature of my father's still lifes lies in his continuous search for synthesis, tending towards abstraction," notes Preca. For him, seeing his father's work in the galleries of the Malta Society of Arts carries a strong sense of continuity: "Giorgio was a member of the Society from 1939, and he exhibited here in 1952 and 1955. Bringing his works back to these walls is both a tribute and a renewal of that legacy." In response to Preca's works, curator Giulia Privitelli invited contemporary artist and au- thor Ryan Falzon to create and select pieces that would engage in a visual dialogue with Preca's still lifes. Known for his bold, politically charged painting practice, Falzon has in recent years turned his attention to plants, domestic inte- riors, and the rhythms of everyday life – a themat- ic shift that emerged dur- ing the COV- ID-19 pan- demic. "For me, both g a r d e n i n g and painting are acts of resistance," F a l z o n r e f l e c t s . "They slow time down in a world that con- s t a n t l y pushes us towards distraction. The care expressed towards plants, the rootedness of living with them, and the intimacy that emerges through such at- tention become subtle yet pow- erful forms of resilience. This body of work treats still life not as a static scene, but as a coun- ter-narrative to the turbulence of our age." Falzon's works for this exhi- bition respond directly to the four thematic galleries shaped by Preca's still lifes: from bi-di- mensional compositions that flatten time and space, to boldly constructed painterly surfaces, to more abstract dissolutions of form, and finally, to works in- fused with symbolism and my- thology. "The process was like a conversation," explains Falzon. For him, showing his works alongside Preca's is both hum- bling and affirming: "It is, with- out doubt, an immense honour. This exhibition positions me at the forefront of carrying the Maltese Modernist spirit into the present. Preca's vision was contemporary in its time, and revisiting his works now allows us to ask what still life – and life itself – can mean today." "Still lifes are often records of being in space and time," says Privitelli. "But what if we em- brace their stillness not as rigid- ity, but as a form of witness? A still life can open up space for silence, solitude, and even im- agination. It can remind us of life amid apparent deadness, of hope amid uncertainty." Still Life | Life, Still invites visi- tors not to consume images pas- sively, but to sit with them – to stay with what is uncomfortable, to notice details, to engage with stillness as a rare privilege. The staging of the show also reflects this intention: each gallery high- lights not only paintings but also objects drawn from Preca's and Falzon's studios, from an iconic rocking chair to a paint-stained armchair, objects saturated with memory and presence. "This exhibition encapsulates what the Malta Society of Arts has stood for since its founda- tion in 1852," says MSA Acting President Roderick Camilleri. "We have always sought to pro- vide a space for artistic growth, experimentation, and dialogue. By bringing together Giorgio Preca and Ryan Falzon, we re- affirm our commitment to in- tergenerational exchange and to re-examining Maltese cultural identity through new perspec- tives." Still Life | Life, Still runs from Thursday 28 August to Thurs- day 18 September 2025 at the Malta Society of Arts, Palazzo de La Salle, Valletta. Entrance is free. For more details please visit www.artsmalta.org or www.facebook.com/maltaso- cietyofarts. Ryan Falzon, July Giorgio Preca, Bust with Amphora and Soup