Italian-born but Malta-based artist Lucio Dubini will be opening his exhibition 'Memories from Mars' at the Art Galleries of the Malta Society of Arts this Thursday 5 March 2020. His first solo show, the exhibition will be the culmination of a long journey of self-discovery and also the materialisation of his childhood dreams of exhibiting his work as an artist.
'Memories from Mars' will feature large, colourful and playful acrylic works with 'more defined shapes than previous works'. This shift in style mainly reflects the changes which the artist went through in his personal life, which in turn led to his works evolving to a different dimension.
Asked to comment about his style, Dubini explains: "I do abstract art because it's the most natural way for me to materialise my feelings, experiences and images into visual art. Through abstract art I feel unrestricted by rigid aesthetic standards and my feelings are free to fly and to almost touch the universe. For me abstract art is pure expression.
The inspiration comes from what surrounds me. Through my art, I re-elaborate the world that I'm seeing, the experiences that I'm doing and the feelings that I have. Then I transform them into lines, shapes, colours. Each day has something to say to me and my art starts from there. What I like is that each viewer can travel inside my paintings and each time can find new places."
The exhibition is curated by Roderick Camilleri who guided the artist through various discussions and studio visits, to develop new paths related to abstraction. "This process gave birth to this new visual content stimulated by a form of lyrical aesthetics which takes a lot from the simplicity and creative freedom of children. This is one of the dominant features which marks this series of art works. We also decided to call the exhibition Memories from Mars - to tease out spontaneity and playful imagination of this particular exhibition".
Dubini is inspired by such artists as Jean Michel Basquiat, Emilio Vedova, Hans Hartung, Nicolas de Stael and Lucio Fontana and viewers might catch glimpses of these artists in his works. He enjoys feeling and touching his art, so he often paints directly with his hands, but also makes use of other tools such as a rag, a spatula or the more traditional brush. Although he loves to experiment with new materials, his main medium is acrylic paint.
'Memories from Mars' by Lucio Dubini opens on Thursday 5 March 2020 at the Art Galleries of Palazzo de La Salle in Valletta. The exhibition can be visited during the Malta Society of Arts' opening hours: Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm, and Saturdays 9am to 1:30pm. Entrance is free.
