A cross-section of his works will now be the focus of Bank of Valletta’s 18th Retrospective Exhibition to be held at BOV Centre in Santa Venera.

The exhibition will be inaugurated tomorrow and will be open to the general public from Saturday up to 31 July.

Born in 1946, Caesar Attard received his early tuition by attending drawing classes at the Malta Government School of Art under Chev. Vincent Apap (1909-2003), and later on painting classes under Chev. Esprit Barthet (1919-1999). In 1969 he entered St Michael’s Training College and took up art teaching as a career. He became a very close friend of sculptor Josef Kalleya (1898-1999) and an artistic bond developed between the two culminating in a show together at the Centre for Professional Bodies Paceville in 1975.

Caesar Attard’s interest in secular cross-disciplinary studies made him a forefront figure involved in various experimental artistic manifestations throughout the 1970s. He became a member of art groups Spectrum ’67, Vision ’74, and Atelier ’56. Set up “Kommunita’ Kreattiva” (1973), “Ideazzjoni” (1974) and was editor of a newsletter “Folji” (1976-77). Amongst his most important shows were “Fear and Risk” (1987). “Life and Passion” (1992), “Drawing and Painting” (1994), and “?” (2007).

Caesar Attard has shown consistently throughout his artistic career a special interest in the human body. His paintings remain characterized for being so arresting, so demanding that we cannot avoid them, or dismiss them for giving them little notice. From the 1990s to the present Caesar Attard focused on a corpus of works concerning what he prefers to call the human core – consisting of new creations which became a call for direct participation and interaction by the public. Caesar has also revived his interest in installation pieces.

As in past editions, Caesar Attard’s retrospective exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue including a biographical synopsis and reproductions in colour of all the exhibits in the exhibition.