Exhibition Carmelo Mangion - Art

 Carmelo Mangion 

Visions of a Maltese Master

Casino Maltese

6th -27th March 2015

I visited Carmelo Mangion's exhibition 'Visions of a Maltese Master' at the Casino Maltese. I was invited to the opening on 6th March by his daughter Adrienne Cassar. He was a husband,a  father, a friend, a teacher and an incredible artist, who silently revolutionized art in Malta.  The collection of his works display consists pieces in various media, gouache, watercolour, oil and etching.  In this exhibition there are family portraits, landscape, seascape, still life, biblical paintings, etchings and abstract compositions.  

     

Title : The Bathers

Media:  Oil on Masonite

In this painting I see the beach. In the foreground there are two ladies in the nude. One of them is laying down, the other one sitting down they are looking at the people and the environment. The painting gives a calm and relaxed mood.  In the foreground the artist used warm colours and cold colours in the background. The oil paint is diluted and he scratched the hair and some areas with the wooden handle of the brush.  The artist uses pure white for the sea or  he left the primer showing. The artist seems to have worked quickly and from the imagination. It reminds me of an Impressionist painting.

In my opinion the painting looks simple, not complicated.

       

                         Title :  Methodist Church Floriana

          Media: Oil on Masonite

This painting is the Methodist Church at Floriana. . The painting depicts a night scene. The road looks slippery and wet probably it was raining. The church reflects on the ground. The building is not straight. The distortion  makes the painting very interesting. He uses  red, blues, black yellows, greys, orange and white. The reds are mainly on the church and the shades of grey and blue around it.

 If it was my work, I would include a figure wearing a coat and holding an umbrella in the painting to make it more interesting.

     

        Title :  Dead end street

          Media: Gouache on paper

The painting depicts buildings next to each other in a dead end street. The road has a distorted perspective.It is painted from high floor of a building. The two street lamps shed lights forming a triangle in the street. The sky is red with greys and blues which makes it looks like a sunset. The red of the sun is seen on the church in the distance. It looks like a fast sketch.  

In my opinion the buildings in this painting are too crowded. It looks like a children's drawing.

           Title :  Boats at Msida

 Media: Etching

This is an etching. It shows a seascape at Msida. There is a Church and buildings in the background, boats in the background and foreground. His style has a certain roughness especially the boat and the floor in the foreground. The buildings although in the distance they have certain detail. Only reflections indicate the sea. A few lines gives the sky a dramatic effect. The darkest area are the boats in the foreground and the ship in the distance. The paper is stained due to its age and maybe improper storage.

I would depict people riding on a boat, people fishing or else people swimming in the sea but I would not change the etching because it is perfect the way it is.

   

    Title :  Salome

             Media: Oil on Masonite

Mangion uses his wife as a model for Salome. Salome is seated dressed up elegantly in a blue dress wearing a necklace, earnings,  a bracelet on her wrist, a ring on her finger and on her right hand holding a glass of wine. She looks as if she is very proud and calm.  She looks at the 'vision' of Saint John the Baptist's head bleeding on the plate. The colour of the head and the blood contrasts with her pale skin. It is a modern version of the story of the bible.