Crosscurrents : critical essays on art and culture in Malta [Book Review]

Abstract

„One can be for or against but not without the Church.‟ This seems to be the leitmotif in many of the lengthy chapters of this book which traces the main developments in modern and contemporary art in Malta. The church, as a major patron of the arts and specifically painting and sculpture in Malta and Gozo throughout the ages, conditioned the development of the representational arts. For years artists had to balance their interest in cubism and abstract painting with the need for securing commissions in churches, as Kenneth Wain explains in his chapter, highlighting the tensions involved in this regard and broadening the discussion to include an analysis of such motifs as that of megalithic art (manifest in the work of Gabriel Caruana, Paul Haber, Neville Ferry and, I would add, Richard England and John Manduca) and the influence of hotels and commercial establishments in the 60s and 70s. Wain also traces the development of the modern art movement in Malta indicating its various waves throughout the 50s, 60s and 70s.