Following an artist's oeuvre over time is always an interesting exercise. James Vella Clark is one Maltese artist whose work I have been observing for the past decade or so, and at his current exhibition Convergence at the MSA in lower Republic Street, I find myself closer to understanding the subtle but significant transformation of his art. 

I arrive to view the exhibition on a miserably rainy day, having unfortunately missed the opening night. The painting which I see straight ahead upon entering the first gallery seems to echo the weather. In that one instant of vision however, it does not translate into a contemporary James Vella Clark. The style and colours don't seem coherent with Vella Clark's art as we know it today... and indeed, Winter Light with its heavily dismal grey undertones, dates back to 2011. It is one of his earlier abstracts.

Starting off in 2008 with a duo of crimson in Red Light I and Red Light II, as well as a smaller painting entitled Seeing the Light, the paintings move through the years to the very latest and largest composition entitled Dvořák dated 2019. From strident and at times violent compositions, from storm and chaos, the paintings land into a fertile sea of calming colours and placid brush strokes. Dvořák is a case in point - few local artists work on such enormous canvases and Vella Clark admits, "this is not my usual, but I found my immersion in the painting so vividly transporting, in many ways causing me to be in awe of the painting itself as it materialised. Creating it became close to a spiritual sensation and I am well inclined to repeat the experience with enthusiasm".

The artist, who curated the exhibition himself, has prepared the show to take the visitor on a journey back in time and on to the present day. He says: "When I arrived here to hang the paintings, I was not quite sure how I would curate it all, but this beautiful space allowed me to work my way smoothly through. I used to come here during the quiet evenings, put on some music, and let the works suggest their own place in the great scheme of things. I must say the paintings never looked better! The staff here at MSA has been extremely supportive and the building lends itself perfectly to the art. I feel that it all turned out to be a very intimate exercise for me, as I re-lived my own creative journey."

The abstractions do not always need close observation to be understood. Even while one must look carefully at the brush strokes, and not just at the colours, the viewer finds him or herself being transported in a wave of sentient feeling, close to becoming emotionally involved. Battlefield 2009 is diametrically different from Reflections in Green 2017 and finally seeing something as delicate as a most recent Yellow Light III 2018, one can see how perfectly mellow the art has become over time. The abstraction develops its character en route to the present day and takes you beyond the brushstrokes, beyond the colour, and into a whimsical feeling of serenity and contentment. 

Vella Clark insists that: "Convergence is not intended to be seen as a retrospective and I am not referring to it as such, because in my opinion, a retrospective is something belonging to a very seasoned and mature artist who shows after a very long career. This exhibition is more of a formality, a public appearance I wanted to make, a statement to myself, confirming that I feel, at this moment in time, that I have found the way my art needs to take me."

 

'Convergence' by James Vella Clark is showing at the Upper Galleries, Malta Society of Arts, 219 Republic Street, Valletta until 28 February.