An exhibition of drawings by Raphael Vella, most of which were presented in a one-person show at Modern Art Oxford in 2007, is now on view in Malta at St James Cavalier in Valletta. A corridor in the lower galleries of St James Cavalier has been transformed to house a unique display that presents many of the drawings in bright red plan chests with drawers that can be opened by viewers. Entitled Reading Cabinets, the exhibition also includes a number of large drawings that were produced after the Modern Art Oxford show and are being shown in public for the first time at St James Cavalier.

Produced in various media like graphite, dry pigment and ink, the drawings deal with controversial subjects like fundamentalism, violence, indoctrination and religion. While the initial source for many of the drawings was the invasion of Iraq and subsequent rise of fundamentalist violence, the artist developed the concept into an exploration of indoctrination and oppressive ideology in general. The delicate nature of the subject-matter is also related to the unusual presentation of the drawings in chests of drawers. This presentation transforms the act of seeing into an act of self-censorship, because each drawer presents and simultaneously hides the drawings. The process of opening and closing the drawers resembles the reading of a book; each ‘page’ is closed in order to read the next.

Raphael Vella is also presenting at St James Cavalier a large sculpture called A Horse for Airing the Gods, made of timber and steel in 2004 for Den Haag Sculptuur, a yearly exhibition of large-scale, outdoor sculpture held in The Hague, Holland. At a height of four metres, it dominates the Terrace Hall, presenting viewers with a monumental structure resembling an oversized clothes-horse with larger-than-life books hanging at different levels. Each book cover has a laser-cut title referring to the name of God in a different European language. It was produced at a time (2003-4) when there was discussion in some European countries about the absence of God’s name in the EU constitution. Vella’s sculpture simultaneously refers to the erasure of the name and the co-existence of many definitions of the divine.

Accompanying the exhibition is a hardbound, full-colour book published by Allied Publishers, with essays by Allia Ali (curator at Modern Art Oxford) and Professor Kenneth Wain, and an interview by Susan Johanknecht, a book artist and lecturer based at the University of the Arts London. The book is available from all leading bookshops and is also on sale at St James Cavalier. The exhibition will remain open to the public until 6 April and is being supported by Allied Publishers and St James Cavalier.