Since it opened its door in Balzan the two young gallarists, Perit Alexia Gingell Littlejohn and Rachel Bezzina have been busy juggling their young families and organizing events at Gallery 23  to which they vote considerable time. They tell me they love it all.

Their latest exhibition there is Jeni Caruana's SKIN, watercolours and mixed media of 48 female (mostly) and some male nudes. The only other local artist I know who also paints nudes is Patrick Dalli whose exhibition at the Museum of Archaeology in Valletta fairly recently made a hit.

Gustav Cuschieri, Gabie Calamatta and Nikita Cuschieri 

Women are the focal point this time round. What unifies these images  is a strong and dignified take on femininity, the mysterious narrative embedded in visual excellence. Inspiring, sometimes elegant, sometimes not, each image takes us on an exciting journey into the world of Jeni Caruana, who as far as I can remember, has always enjoyed painting nudes.

Which famous nudes come to mind immediately if not Goya's Naked Maja, which attracted the attention of the Spanish Inquisition. Then there is Manet's Olympia and Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, Ingres, La Grande Odalisque and of course Renoir's prodigious output of female nudes, all pink and mostly blonde. They make fat seem delicious (which it never really is).  More recently Lucian Freud's Benefits Supervisor Sleeping (she existed, weighed 127 kilos and was horribly fat) was sold by Christie's in 2008 for $33.6 million, making it - at the time - the most expensive painting by a living artist ever to be sold at auction.

Francesca Muscat, Perit Alexia Gingell Littlejohn, Andrea Mifsud, Lisa Falzon, Rachel Said, Dr Liz Ganado

Picasso adored and collected Renoir nudes. He himself painted nudes among them The bathers. Gaugin painted his Tahitian nudes but they were a figment of his imagination for by the time he arrived in the 1800 Tahiti had been  "Christianized ad colonized" and women simply did not go around in the nude. He made it all up. He didn't depict the reality he saw but what was in his imagination instead. But nobody seems to care. His paintings sell for millions. Why bother with reality (which is often so grim)  if we can have magic?

Chris Mifsud and Dr Malcolm Falzon

Artist Jeni Caruana and her daughters

Jeni Caruana's nudes are straightforward people we meet in everyday life - only they are usually wearing clothes. There are no embellishments to these watercolours, no flowers, or exotic trees, or chaises longues. They are real bodies, many of them fat or at least overweight and you know they are real, not manufactured out of her imagination. She has been people watching for many years.

You still have a chance to see this exhibition.  It is open today and Tuesday from 11am to 1pm both days.

Etienne Farrell's project at MUZA

A friend showed interest in seeing Guilty at Muza, so we made a morning of it with lunch afterwards.

Etienne was there and it made all the difference. She told us that she does not consider this to be an exhibition. "It is a project between me, the work and the visitors -  especially those who discuss and those who write in the Diary. My satisfaction is seeing people talking/writing about what they are usually ashamed of..."

Well, now I understood what it was all about. Such an interesting idea. Guilty is open until 12th June. Pop in and expect an interesting discussion, give your views in the Diary and see what others have written. Go, and enjoy a light lunch afterwards as we did.

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