"Lawrence Buttigieg: Views of the Female"
2007-06-16 until 2007-07-29
Auberge d’Italie
Valletta, , MT Malta

Architect and artist Lawrence Buttigieg (born 1963) will be presenting a collection of about twenty paintings at the Auberge d’Italie, Valletta, between the 16th June and the 20th July. These works were completed since his last show at Gallery G, Lija in 2005. Once again the predominant theme will be the female body. With this corpus of paintings Buttigieg continues to explore the contemporary female body which is set against the changeable roles of men and women in present day society. Unlike more traditional nudes in which boundaries are clearly set and sex has its customary place in the scheme of things, in these works the artist addresses the question of what it means to be a sexual human being. As a consequence of this, his nudes tend to be highly charged images. Buttigieg stresses that his nudes are the result of a male’s gaze on the female body. Through his painting process, the raw and informal body undergoes a transformation that is influenced by the sexual orientation of both artist and subject. The nudes of Buttigieg are a celebration of the beauty and sensuality of modern women. Lawrence Buttigieg has been a Premiere Portfolio Artist at absolutearts.com since 2005.

In his work Buttigieg relies on close observation of the subject and the expressive use of colour. Without question, his representations of people are a balance of physical form and feeling. The artist believes that the whole body reflects the inner being and close observation of the epidermis is one way of getting access to it. Buttigieg insists that a good representation of a person, whether it is a portrait or a nude, is a search for quintessential truths; it is crucial that the artist focuses on the heart, mind, passion, and temperament of the individual—qualities which constitute the essence of his or her character. Looking closely at the works of Buttigieg, it is evident that he does take these into account achieving timeless representations of the individuals concerned. Definitely, the myraid of colours that characterize his paintings reflect the colours of life, and render likeness and personal stylization indissolute. Buttigieg gives credit to his sitters because they allow themselves to be thoroughly scrutinized; they subject themselves to his gaze which in many ways goes beyond the skin.

Buttigieg has exhibited his work extensively both locally and abroad. In 2003 he had a personal exhibition at the ex-Chiesa di Santa Marta, Piazza del Collegio Romano, Rome. The artist’s participation in collectives includes two international exhibitions, Aim for Arts (2000) and Painting on the Edge (2003), both held at the Federation Galleries of the Federation of Canadian Artists, Grenville Island, Vancouver, Canada.

Buttigieg has a Master of Arts (Visual and Performing Arts) from Charles Sturt University. He has also studied at California State University and the University of Malta.

View more of Lawrence Buttigieg's work at: http://www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/a/aboutlawrence/

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Indepth Arts Resources for Malta

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