Entering the realm of the intangible in the presence of an altar to the glorified non-colour that is white, is akin to venturing back in time and space to experience a rite of passage that is as old as time itself – primordial dance. This is the feeling evoked by A White Chapel for a White Dance, a series of 11 works by Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci, the latest experiment of the artist as he works his way through a period when he appears to be on the verge of an artistic frontier. He pointedly refers to the exhibition as a thesis on art.

“A move beyond this realm would take me to the realm of non-art. And every time I seem to stop at the edge of the precipice.” The ability to totter on this edge and keep from falling, is all to the credit of a dynamic kind of energy that urges Schembri Bonaci on to establish new tangible quality to the colour that is white.

If you believed that ‘white’ was a blanket description for anything that did not possess colour, this exhibition will have you re-thinking the formula. White takes on different hues, juxtaposed against each other through the tangible creation of texture that allows one white to leap out and attack the next patch of white which suddenly becomes a scrawny kind of insipid shade. Its whiteness is relative….. as is that of gesso white, lime white, oil white, tempera white…. The end result is a visible experiment in colour temperament.

As each white colour battles with its neighbour, through the manifestation of visible texture, the exhibits take on a contemplative quality only shaken by an occasional secondary force that comes forth simply because creativity is what it is and cannot be shackled.

But then there are the dancers, or the dance which you can identify as a collection of moving figures, if you fail to recognize the dancers themselves. Each panel is imbued with its own kind of life and energy, and whilst some of the irrational forms may be meaningful to you, they may be simply shadows to me. It is difficult to say which panel is more evocative, but surely, quiet meditation within what the artist considers a chapel, therefore a sanctified place that is dedicated to White, will bring forth insight.

This exhibition is an artistic counterpoint and as I look at the panels, I catch myself humming a melody lifted off Bach’s preludes and fugues. I am amazed the artist didn’t place this music as fitting background to the works.

I am told that the dancers are not there simply to dance, but to act as subterfuge, “to help me create this exercise in colour and texture. And they come about after thousands of sketches inspired by one of the greatest masters – Goya himself.”

And thus the theme, the texture and the master form the tripod on which this collection could settle. Do not proceed to view it expecting beauty at face value. You have to travel further in to unearth meaning….. but before you do, do try to take Bach with you.

A White Chapel for a White Dance exhibition by Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci at the National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta is on until 2 December.