Manuel Caruana It is always very exciting when one comes across a few new names of young and upcoming artists who are eager to share and show their talents in local exhibitions. New talent is one of the vital signs of an active vibrant art scene. Manuel Caruana is such a new name whose contribution to this exhibition is a series of recent abstract watercolours. I made my acquaintance with Manuel some six years ago at the regular weekly life drawing sessions held at Alfred Briffa’s studio in Mosta. We drew and shared ideas and soon became friends and have been in touch ever since. I was perhaps one of the very first to experience his new abstract watercolour results when with the naïve sincerity of a child Manuel emailed me several images for my evaluation and comments. Manuel has experienced very early in his career a sense of dissatisfaction with recording objective reality and contemplated the possibility of venturing into more spontaneous compositions which are not preconceived and allowed himself to go with the flow of painting itself. The only tangible concept he shared with me which makes some reference to nature was the fact that he is fascinated by the changes of space formed by the clouds and particularly the array of colours he observes while returning home from work. This collection of watercolour abstracts is indeed about colour and shapes but in my opinion they are more concerned with the control and flow of the watercolour medium. I notice how subtle colour stains the paper surface, seeps into its weave and gently blends into the adjacent colour. At times colour is confined to a definitive irregularly shaped area which while relating to what is next to it, at the same time it offers a sharp contrast.
Screaming formation (48 x 33 cm)
The viewer is invited to interact in the experience of these new creations by Manuel Caruana to experience the sense of play and novelty that the young artist encounters in his creations. Dr Joseph Paul Cassar Joseph Paul Cassar is currently professor of art in the United States. As an artist he exhibits his work regularly at the Osher Art Gallery University of Towson, Columbia Art Center in Maryland, Creative Alliance in Baltimore and York College Art Gallery in Pennsylvania. As a scholar, Joseph Paul Cassar is the author of several researched books on Maltese artists and Modernism. His latest publications are “Pioneers of Modern Art in Malta Vol I” (PIN) and “Philip Chircop: Abstract Expressions” (Progress Press) , 2010.
Voice in singularity (48 x 33 cm)
Energy of life (48 x 33 cm)