Throughout the history of art, we encounter numerous artworks which for various reasons remained incomplete and are considered as masterpieces. I do have a special personal affinity for 'incomplete' artworks. I still remember reminding myself to breathe when I came face to face for the first time with Leonardo da Vinci's 'Adoration of the Magi' at the Uffizi, Florence.

Various reasons abound as to why artworks are left unfinished whether deliberate or not. Artists may abandon an artwork to move on to another project to remain inspired or because interest is lost in a particular piece. An artwork may be left unfinished as the artist desires to make a statement or due to other circumstances which may be totally beyond the control of the artist, such as an untimely death. Artists may also conscientiously leave a work unfinished, in order to involve the viewer more.

Eight artists accepted my invitation (and challenge) to participate in a collective exhibition held at 'il-Kamra ta' Fuq' focusing on incomplete artworks. This 'style of art' is absolutely nothing new. In fact, numerous artists adopt it as their normal artistic style. However, the difference about this exhibition is that most of the invited artists do not normally leave their works incomplete and the concept to bring together such distinct artists to showcase a number of contemporary artworks bound by this incompleteness is unusual.

It was intriguing to observe the way each artist interpreted the 'non-finito' having been given the freedom to decide what their artwork will portray, as long as there is an element of incompleteness.

Lorelei (After Böcklin & Lagrenée) by Gabriel Buttigieg

Gabriel Buttigieg's large work is divided into two parts, the upper part is very typical of his oeuvre where we see a mesh of bodies filling up the canvas to the brim, while the lower part is left void of almost anything, except for a teasing drawing of a torso. A torso which triggers the viewer's imagination and curiosity as to what it might have been.

Untitled by Antoine Farrugia

Antoine Farrugia exhibits two sculptures created specifically for this exhibition. Although the abstract forms may appear complete, Farrugia opted to abandon the smooth finishing of the forms - which are normally associated with his signature style in order to invite the viewer to explore the rough details and grooves left by the tools as opposed to the sensual aspects of these two beautiful forms when seen at a distance.

Aaron Bezzina took matters a few steps further, where his work can be completed both conceptually and also physically. He exhibits a dagger (part of his series of daggers), appositely created for this exhibition, where an element of the same dagger is missing, but then left next to the artefact itself.

Hypothetical Blue 1 by Mario Abela

The aspect of incompleteness was also considered in a more physical way by Mario Abela, where his two canvases (part of his Anthropocene series) display a torn/incomplete canvas fabric, wisely and prominently framed in this way.

Daniel Borg's 2021 works are both left incomplete in various ways. By leaving the piece 'Heat' unfinished and raw Borg mimics the ever-changing and unstable element of nature, thus encouraging the viewer to embrace the evolving aspect of everything around us.

Blah Blah Blah by Debbie Caruana Dingli

Debbie Caruana Dingli produced two works for the exhibition. The large work, called 'Blah Blah Blah', shows her iconic caricature figures, in an incomplete state towards the bottom of the artwork and the viewer is invited to imagine what is going on in this work.

Orchestra #2 by Alex Attard

I thought this theme was quite impossible to be captured through photography. Alex Attard proved me wrong in such an exceptional way. His two works from 2015, from his series 'The Beauty of the Given Moment' show two stills captured directly from a tv broadcasted concert where due to a very bad satellite transmission, the resulting image of the concerto was an incomplete one.

To conclude, there is Darren Tanti who is participating with an artwork which he left incomplete since 2009. It's a work that some months ago I saw in his studio and was probably the trigger to create this collective exhibition based on this rather strange theme. The artwork is now titled 'Judith and Weinstein' after the artist continued his work on the 'trophy head'. The finalisation of the work is on a conceptual level, as the painting itself is still frozen in an in-development aesthetic.

The exhibition is curated by Melanie Erixon for Art Sweven.

The exhibition will run from 19th March until 17th April at Il-Kamra ta' Fuq, Mqabba.

Participating artists: Mario Abela, Alex Attard, Aaron Bezzina, Daniel Borg, Gabriel Buttigieg, Debbie Caruana Dingli, Antoine Farrugia, Darren Tanti