Of drunken fish and hedgehog goulash

The latest exhibition at Arthall in Gozo opened successfully on July 10, with intriguing paintings and original sculptures by participating artists Tomas Hed from Sweden, Harrison Levi from South Africa and Stiefnu De Battista from Malta.

Break in Gozo by Tomas Hed

The exhibition, mysteriously entitled Spleen, aroused much curiosity among visitors and lots of questions about the concept behind it. The term Spleen, popularised by the French poet Charles Baudelaire, is an expression of dissatisfaction with circumstances.

Artists of the Arthall show capture the notion of Spleen in their work, while simultaneously reaching for hope for a better situation, and in the spirit of Arthall itself, it’s all done with a touch of provocation and irony,

The unusual and thought-provoking exhibition is described by curator Marta Oblois as “a world of subjectivity and dreams, moving from a sea with drunken and flying fish sculptures to a shaft where there’s a painting of an impossible woman trying her best not to fall down. In between is a recipe of a hedgehog goulash or a painting expressing, in a very vivid way, the conflicts between heart and head.

A Brief History of Time by Harrison Levi

“If you just take a deep breath and continue looking, you will discover a modern Sisyphus in his eternal going around without knowing really why; a woman and a bull merging together; and an ironic picture of an updated daily life in Gozo.

“It is a very suggestive and powerful exhibition if you just let yourself get carried away by the force of the brushes and the imagination of the artists. All three artists, from different provenances, share the same vital space and the same reality, but, obviously, each of them in his own particular, subjective and individual way.”

Spleen will run until August 31. The opening hours of the gallery are Wednesday to Saturday from 10am to 1pm and from 5 to 7pm and Sunday from 10am to noon. The gallerist and the artists are also available by appointment. For more information, visit arthallgozo.com or e-mail Marta Obiols at arthallgozo@gmail.com.