Can I say: ..... Drink in the colour red then you’II see that it can never be presented by anything else?

What is the significance of our inclination to say this?

Red seems to stand there, isolated. Why?

What is the value of this appearance (and of) this inclination of ours?

W I T T G E N S T E I N , Z E T T E L , B L A C K W E L L , 1 9 6 7 P. 3 4 4

Wittgenstein’s questions about red are not rhetorical. Some have sought to answer them indirectly by setting out

a philosophy of language or of mind in general terms. But I do not know (perhaps because of professional

deformation) of any philosopher who has given even implicitly answers to Wittgenstein’s quadruple query by

focussing roundly and squarely on the chosen example – red. Yet, that is precisely what Norbert Francis Attard does

in the ‘’installations’’ recorded in the present book.

P E T E R S E R R A C I N O I N G L O T T

I see red everywhere

N O R B E R T F R A N C I S A T T A R D

F I O N A C A L D E R is a writer, researcher andfreelance journalist. She specialises in broad spectrumeditorial features and in-depth interviews writing for theTrinity Mirror, The Tweeddale Press Group, NorthcliffeNewspapers Group and Scotsman Communications.

N E I L C A M E R O N is an art historian and writerbased in Edinburgh. He has written for various publicationsincluding The Independent (London) and Frame(Amsterdam). Chief art critic for The Scotsman (Edinburgh)newspaper from 2000–02, he also manages a nationalprogramme of architectural recording for the RoyalCommission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments ofScotland. His most recent publication is Graven Images:Design in a Cold Climate (2002).

R I C H A R D C A R R is a design journalist and Readerin Design History, Theory and Practice, at Duncan ofJordanstone College of Art and Design, Dundee, Scotland.From 1962–69 he was features editor of Design magazineand from 1970–75 design correspondent of The Guardian.Since 1976 he has held editorial and journalistic positionswith Crafts Magazine, Building Design, Design Week andThe Scotsman. Currently he writes for European designperiodicals and the bi-monthly Scottish publicationArtwork. His monograph Catching up with Sossass waspublished in 1999 by The Lighthouse in Glasgow.

R I C H A R D D E M A R C O is an artist, writer and,since 1992, Emeritus Professor of European CulturalStudies at Kingston University, England. He is director ofthe Demarco European Art Foundation which is based inEdinburgh, Scotland. He has been involved in more than 50Edinburgh Festivals and was the first to introduce greatartists like Joseph Beuys and Tadeusz Kantor to the Britishpublic. His publications include The artist as Explorer(1978),The Road to Meikle Seggie (1978), A Life of Pictures(1995) and Art = Wealth (1995).

E M M A N U E L F I O R E N T I N O is currently the artcritic of the Sunday Times (Malta). He has been a lecturerin art history at the Art and Design School, in Malta, since1987. He is also an art historian and has written books on Giuseppi Cali (1991), Willie Apap (1993), Antoine Camilleri(1999), Frank Portelli (1999) and Marco Cremona (2000).

Q U E N T I N H U G H E S has a long association withMalta. For five years he was Dean of the Faculty ofEngineering and Professor of Architecture at the Universityof Malta where he was able to study the superb defencesof the island in great detail. He has subsequently beenmade an honorary professor of JM University and a SeniorFellow of the University of Liverpool. He has writtennumerous books on architecture, war and fortifications. Formany years, he was editor of Fort, and is considered oneof the world’s leading experts on fortifications. Hispublications include: The building of Malta (1966),Renaissance Architecture (1962), Seaport (1964), Fortress:Architecture and Military History in Malta (1969–2002),Military Architecture (1974) and Strong as the Rock ofGibraltar (1996).

P A U L S A N T C A S S I A is Reader in Anthropologyat the University of Durham, UK. He previously lectured atthe University of Cambridge, UK, where he was Curator forthe Anthropology Collections at the Cambridge UniversityMuseum of Archaeology and Anthropology. He has beenvisiting Professor at the Universities of Paris (Nanterre),Aix en Provence, and Malta. He has conductedanthropological research in the Mediterranean (Cyprus,Greece, Tunisia, and Malta), and has published extensivelyon anthropological topics. He also has strong interests incontemporary and non-western art, as well as in the workof Poussin and Piranesi.

P E T E R S E R R A C I N O I N G L O T T is Professor inthe Department of Philosophy, University of Malta, since1971. He is a special advisor to the Prime Minister ofMalta since 1998. He is also Chairman of theMediterranean Institute, Director of the InternationalOcean Institute and is Chairman of the InternationalInstitute of Baroque Studies. He is author of BeginningPhilosphy (1987), Peopled Silence (1995) andMediterranean Music (with Charles Camilleri) (1998) and has written numerous articles mainly in the borderareas between philosophy and the human sciences. He isalso the author of two libretti of operas, The MalteseCross (1995) and Compostella (1993) and is a member ofthe editorial boards of several international journalsincluding, Journal of Mediterranean Studies, ArteCristiana, Ethos and Kos.

D I A N E S Y K E S graduated in Art Gallery andMuseum Studies from the University of Manchester in1983. Since 1989, she has been the director of theCrawford Arts Centre, St Andrews, Scotland. She waspreviously a curator for the Scottish Arts Council TravellingGallery between 1983 – 88.

J U L I A N T R E U H E R Z is Keeper of Art Galleries forNational Museums & Galleries on Merseyside, responsiblefor the Walker, Liverpool, the Lady Lever Art Gallery, PortSunlight and Sudley House, Mossley Hill. An authority onVictorian art and architecture, he has published on the Pre-Raphaelites, Victorian Social Realism, Cheshire CountryHouses and Victorian Painting. His latest project is anexhibition of the work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti for 2003.He is also organiser of the John Moores exhibitions ofcontemporary painting, now part of the Liverpool Biennial.

R A P H A E L V E L L A is an artist, lecturer and artcritIc. He has been actively involved in the Maltese artscene since the late 1980s. Since 1992, he has writtenseveral articles and critical essays about Maltese art andartists in local newspapers and magazines. He presentlylectures on contemporary art at the Junior College and theUniversity of Malta. He has recently started curatingexhibitions with two main shows : an exhibition entiltledVia at the University of Malta and Cityspaces, usingexisting old buildings in Valletta, as venues.

K E N N E T H W A I N is a philosopher, writer and poet,and lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University ofMalta. His academic areas of research are philosophy ofeducation, ethics, and political philosophy. He has hadvarious articles in these areas published in internationaljournals, and has published numerous academic books. Hehas also had various poems published in anthologies,literary magazines and newspapers, together with a bookof short stories. For some years, he was the artcorrespondent of the Times of Malta and continues tocontribute occasional articles about art in Maltesenewspapers. Over the years, he has written profiles ofFrank Portelli and Esprit Barthet for Six Modern Artists(Malta University Press, 1991), and Norbert Attard (1996),together with a book on Luciano Micallef (1993) andanother on Raymond Pitre (2001).

C O N T R I B U T O R S ’ B I O G R A P H I E S

f i o n a c a l d e r

n e i l c a m e r o n

r i c h a r d c a r r

r i c h a r d d e m a r c o

e m m a n u e l f i o r e n t i n o

q u e n t i n h u g h e s

p a u l s a n t c a s s i a

p e t e r s e r r a c i n o i n g l o t t

d i a n e s y k e s

j u l i a n t r e u h e r z

r a p h a e l v e l l a

k e n n e t h w a i n

foreword by richard demarco

introduction by peter serracino inglott

twelve installations

about norbert francis attard

I wish to acknowledge and thank those who havecollaborated on the production of this book: Prof. RichardDemarco for the Foreword and Prof. Peter Seraccino Inglottwho wrote the Introduction to this book. I also would like tothank all the contributors to the text of each installation:Fiona Calder, Neil Cameron, Richard Carr, EmmanuelFiorentino, Prof. Quentin Hughes, Paul Sant Cassia, DianeSykes, Julian Treuherz, Raphael Vella and Prof. KennethWain. Fiona Calder for her editing skills and especially PaulGilby for his constant support and advice on the book.

I also want to thank Paul Gilby for his invaluable help on fourparticular installations , Tu Es Petrus I and II, Beyond Conflictand Love is all there is. Without his involvement, these workswould not have been possible.

Also Prof. Richard Demarco who, through the DemarcoEuropean Art Foundation, set up a network of visual artspatronage, making necessary links between Blink Red.com,St Leonard’s School and the Apex Hotel.

There have been so many extraordinary people who havehelped in the realisation of these twelve installations. I wouldlike to mention in particular, JB Stores, Jesmond Bugeja,Michael Stroud, Saviour Gauci, Salvu Tabone, Charles Saliba,Silvio Saliba, Mario Caruana and Raymond Caruana, all fromMalta. I would also like to thank, Mike Hurst from theafoundation, Liverpool; Bill Maynard from Urban Splash,Liverpool; Kirsty Mcdougall and Rosemary Strang from BlinkRed, Edinburgh; Lorna Lee and Gordon McCulloch from ApexHotel, Edinburgh; Wendy Bellars, Donna Rae and FraserMacdonald from St Leonard’s School, St Andrews, Scotland;and Prof. Quentin Hughes and Mrs. Hughes for theirassistance and help with the Beyond Conflict piece.

My work exists, in great part, because of the continualsupport of my partner, Marisa Vella, and particularly theinvaluable help of her brother Paul Vella, both of whom haveworked on most of the installations I have created in Maltaand abroad.

This book is dedicated to Marisa Vella.

A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S P U B L I S H E R A N D P R O D U C T I O N

JON WRIGLEY and MARIO ABELA

Zone Five, San Gwann, Malta.

I see red everywhere, Larger than Life.

RICHARD COOPER

Photoflex, Liverpool, England.

Tu Es Petrus I, Tu Es Petrus II, Beyond Conflict.

PATRICK FENECH

Senglea, Malta.

Bed of roses, Caravaggio, A place called paradise I & II,portraits of Norbert Francis Attard.

COLIN RUSCOE

Tayport, Scotland.

One extreme to another.

ANTONIA REEVE

Edinburgh, Scotland.

Love is all there is.

NORBERT FRANCIS ATTARD

Gharb, Gozo, Malta.

I see red everywhere, A place called paradise II, Love is allthere is, One extreme to another, Only one man, Kosode II,Mihrab I, The Beheading of St John, White yellow red onyellow, Villa of the Mysteries at Pompeii.

Norbert Francis Attard

www.norbertattard.com

Represented in the U.K. by Relative-Media

www.relative-media.com

First published 2002

CARNYX GROUP LIMITED3, Park Street SouthGlasgow G3 6BG Scotland.

Tel: 0141 332 3255 Fax: 0141 332 2012www.carnyx.com

Works of Norbert Francis Attard © Norbert Francis Attrard.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, storedin a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the priorpermission of Norbert Francis Attard.

ISBN 1-903653-12-6

P H O T O G R A P H Y

Printing and binding by Lewis Press Limited, Malta.

Cover printed by J&A Bonnici Limited, Malta.

CTP Plates by Velprint, Guardamangia, Malta.

Scanning by Scancraft, Malta.

Designed by Norbert Francis Attard and Joe Scerri (MAS Communications, Malta)

Edited by Fiona E. Calder.

Inside paper: Matt laminated Burgo, 200gsm.Cover: G F Smith, Colourplan Pebbled, Bright Red, 540gsm.Typeface: Univers 47 Condensed light.

DEMAJO GROUP OF COMPANIES

Norbert Francis Attard is not only one of the most important contemporary artists in Malta but also an important patron of the

visual arts. His cultural heritage is essentially European with a strong Mediterranean dimension. Born in Malta, he lives and

works as an artist on the island of Gozo but with his eyes fixed on the International arena of the contemporary art world. He

manages to live there welcoming fellow artists and art patrons to his studio and to Gozo Contemporary, an art centre providing

self-directed artist-in-residency programs, the ideal setting and facilities for artists to work in a Maltese environment.

At the time of our first meeting in January 1999, Norbert Attard was working on a special homage in the form of a sculptural

installation called Larger Than Life to the genius of the artist Mattia Preti who lived and worked in Malta for 40 years. Mattia

Preti, like Caravaggio, was an Italian Renaissance painter who found important patronage in Malta from the Knights of Malta.

Preti’s paintings and murals express and embellish the glories of Maltese Baroque. He created the extraordinary feat of

decorating the interior of St John’s Cathedral in Valletta with the energy of the baroque style which so very well suited the

temperament of the Maltese people. Through his multi-media installation at St James Cavalier, and again later at the 1999

Venice Biennale, Norbert Attard not only recreated the spirit of Matia Preti by celebrating his past achievements in Malta but

at the same time I saw Norbert hard at work celebrating this manifestation of the Baroque as a characteristic of the Maltese

people in their everyday lives particularly in their relationship to their wholehearted commitment to religious ceremonies and

festivities. Norbert Attard is a renaissance man who personifies the artist as scientist. In Larger than Life, he proved to be a

remarkable combination of an architect, painter, sculptor, as well as skilful in the manipulation of electronic media.

These twelve remarkable installations manifested in this book entitled I See Red Everywhere, were created during the last

eighteen months and executed in three different places, in Malta, in England and in Scotland. The title is most fitting because

it expresses Norbert Attard’s passionate commitment to making art relating to important issues facing our western European

society, overwhelmed with the forces of rampant materialism. In this way, his art strikes a Beuysian note of compassion and

concern for the human condition struggling to make sense of a world in which the work of the contemporary artist is aligned

with that of the entertainer and tourist and those involved in the leisure industry. Norbert has placed himself like the late

Joseph Beuys as a true avant gardist, deeply questioning the role of the artist in a time of overwhelming challenge. He works

tirelessly, his eyes not on the horizon which defines the world of galleries and museums, but far beyond towards the ‘offing’

where, in Beuys’s philosophy, lie the possibilities of true ‘new beginnings’. The Oratory at the Liverpool Biennial, Apex Hotel

at the Edinburgh Festival and the gardens of St.Leonards at St.Andrews are now inextricably linked to key locations in Malta

through the transformative power of art made as a blessing and a celebration.

A EUROPEAN ARTIST FROM MALTA R I C H A R D D E M A R C O

L A R G E R T H A N L I F E – N O R B E R T F R A N C I S A T T A R D , V E N I C E B I E N N A L E , 1 9 9 9

range of even opposed associations of red, so that the effect of this collectively produced coniunctio oppositorium comes to

look somewhat like a Beuysian bloodstained bandage of enormous proportions. A computer keyboard and desk are not only

made to float quasi angelically in the air but are also painted red, as if in expression of their being in the throes of some

dematerializing process, defeating gravity (in both senses of the word) and symbolizing the gathering up of even technology

into the collective life-stream. Here the god-like attribute of omnipresence seems to be enjoyed by Red in virtue of its

associability with anything that anyone believes is endowed with the same sort of peculiar strength which the colour red has

in the spectrum. Love is all there is is a variation on the same theme, using the technique of debanalisation by

transcontextualisation; in this case, rubrification.

A similar technique is inbuilt into the much richer and more fragrant Bed of Roses. This installation seems to be more lovingly

focussed on Bed rather than Red. A bare bedstead is associated with each of seven stages of life but then an eighth bed,

somewhat like the eighth day which the Church Fathers spoke of to indicate the afterlife, is projected above the rest in mid-

air. The roses function here as both a romantic and an ironic version of the red paint on the computer end desk in One Extreme

to Another. St Therese of Lisieux had spoken of a shower of roses as the metaphor for the graces from Heaven she would

scatter over the earth in her post-mortem exaltation. Attard’s Bed of Roses is therefore a sort of parody of the Platonic idea of

Bed. Red here is the mark of the transcendent strength which uplifts the multiplicity of sensory objects into the unity of their

ideal Form. Once again the role of red in the spectrum is the paradigm. The irony with which the phrase “Bed of Roses” reeks

clearly indicates Attard’s awareness that what he is indulging in is a language game in which simple, literal meanings do not

always prevail and dead metaphors can be induced to spring into new forms of unexpected life.

In another installation he turns to what looks like an attempt at exploring whether ‘’I can see red anywhere’’ can be a viable

alternative to ‘’I See Red Everywhere’’. In A Place Called Paradise, Attard again seems at first to be more concerned with an

idea other than Red, viz.: the relativisation of both terms of ‘’place/paradise” (Any place can be paradise). Actually in Part One

of the installation, the “place” is dominated by Red’s rival brother among the primary colours, a Yellow that does not seem

altogether pure anywhere. Nowhere is it totally free from a degree of fraternal contamination, but it cannot help evoking more

eloquently than anything else Van Goghian scenery and Sartrian commentary on the association of yellow with anguish. Red

appears marginally, although with its usual unequable strength magnetizing attention. A red liquid circulates between the sink

and pail beneath as though these hygienic implements were some extraordinary reliquary for the perpetual re-enactment of

an unrecorded martyrdom, like that in which St January’s blood liquefies in Naples annually. But in this room one is not

Wittgenstein asked why does the human race in general have the apparently irresistible tendency (or should one say

temptation?) to substantivize Red, even to regard it as Aristotle’s original Substance (prote ousia), a quasi-divine entity,

existing of and on its own? The title of Attard’s book proclaims, although, in merely autobiographical mode, one possible

answer: Red’s perceived omnipresence. One installation then suggests that the reason for Red’s possession of this exclusively

godlike attribute is its role in the titanic, cosmic struggle between Evolution and Entropy, perceived by Attard with as much

ambivalence as by Pynchon in his novels, a battle of a Homeric, Iliad type, – that is, so equally balanced as to remain

indefinitely unresolved – between the obstinate but central Fixity of a dead tree trunk, with once upward soaring – now bare

– antler-like branches, and red Fabric, running and criss-crossing, in spirit-and-lifeforce animated streams, looking vaguely like

an enlarged illustration of arteries out of a bio-medical textbook, sweeping round and past the mortified obstacle as it

proceeds from an invisible beginning to an equally invisible end. So Red is omnipresent like God in the world because of the

omnipresence in all earthly things of the inexorable war waged by the second law of thermodynamics against the life-force.

It may not be difficult to guess why Attard chose to represent the twin enemies by a tree that died and dyed textile

respectively. Human beings began to weave at the same time as they began to sow seeds in the Neolithic age. Of the joys

triumphing over the fears which the joint discovery of agriculture and cloth-making inspired, the most impressive reminders

happen to be located in the island of Malta, where Attard was born and still dwells. He has always delighted in and collected

textiles. A series of his prints explores the kimono.

But why is the textile Red? Wittgenstein says: ‘’ We have a colour system as we have a number system. Do the systems reside

in our nature or in the nature of things? How are we to put it? Not in the nature of numbers or colours’’ (para. 357). Certainly

there are, as Wittgenstein hints, both psychological reasons (such as mental associations) and physical reasons (such as

considerations of strength in function of place in the spectrum) that support the identification of Red as the unique, possible

filler of the role attributed to It by Attard in I See Red Everywhere, but need one follow Wittgenstein when he asserts that

such a claim is not based on the nature of the colour red at all? Would such a claim imply the reification or deification of Red?

Is not the singular place of red in the spectrum part of its nature?

Attard explores other motives pointing in the direction of the universal presence of Red in other installations. In One Extreme

to Another, a fabric links two living trees, instead of spiralling round a dead one, and it is, this time, white, (Wittgenstein, in

Remarks on Colour, which the publishers have placed between red covers (!), argues at length about ‘’ the peculiarity of white’’

in particular as against red, e.g. para.241). The white fabric is, however, smudged with words in red expressing all the vast

TOWARDS A RED CATECHISM P E T E R S E R R A C I N O I N G L O T T

sceptical readers. Clearly, when Goethe said that red could and should emerge from yellow, he was not talking ordinary natural

science, but rather carrying out a poetic operation of the same kind as Attard “installing” A Place called Paradise. “Red emerges

out of yellow” is almost tantamount to saying that Glory is secreted out of Agony. The affirmation can then be turned easily into

such moral exhortations as per ardua ad astra, or per crucem ad lucem. In Goethe’s theory, Red turns from a sort of mask of the

Deity into a secularised cipher of the crucified God. Likewise, in Attard’s installation, Red dowers what might have been merely

a touching anecdote with a mythical dimension, In Part Two of A Place called Paradise, the red towels have multipled into a

hundred, they now hang, golden-pegged, on clotheslines in the open air and, strung out together in this fashion, they convey the

impression of some sort of labyrinth. Perhaps that is the most appropriate mythical “place” for Red. It might be relevant to recall

that Attard’s early graphic work, specifically his Walled City Series, seemed to be a search after topographical essence, an

architect’s quest for the genius loci; but he now rather seems to want to tell us that anywhere can be a site for the epiphany

(if not the theophany) of Red. Clearly, however, the discourse is parabolic. There does not even seem to be any physical fact

that could serve as a natural basis for a transcendent meaning of Yellow as Red has in its special strength in the spectrum.

Because of this basis for Red, it is indeed enticing to plunge into even deeper metaphysical waters than Attard intended when

he set up another two-part installation, called: Tu es Petrus, in a former Church dedicated to St Peter. In the Temple of

Jerusalem, which St Peter had frequented assiduously, red was the dominant tonality of the curtain which delimited the Holy

of Holies, the space reserved for the Ark containing the tablets inscribed with the ten commandments. Red itself had

consequently come in time to signify the hidden presence, fascinans et tremendum, of the Holy par excellence. The Talmud

considers red to signify the vigour and rigour of God’s acts, as opposed to white which signified rather loving kindness. The

Kabbala recognises the two colours as primordial factors in the genesis of the universe. The sense of the Red as denoting the

Holy is so deeply ingrained in the Jewish subconscious than even a non-practitioner like Mark Rothko paints such canvasses,

undoubtedly evocative of the Temple curtain, as Four Reds (1957). Equally clearly, there is in such paintings also the influence

of such secular masterpieces as Matisse’s L’Atelier Rouge, but even this Red may not be totally lacking in affinity with the

tradition according to which the parokhet signified the interface between finite and infinite, the flutter and soft whisper of the

transcendent, the joyful communication of the divine call to be obeyed.

In Tu es Petrus I, the reams of red fabric that we are already well-acquanited with hold together with their binding strength

two huge megaliths, one old and rough looking, the other modern and polished. The line of their imperfect conjunction, a

shadow-darkened fissure of non-coincidence, the not quite fully satisfactory integration of old and new, reminds us that the

tempted to say, as Wittgenstein imagined people always would

‘’red seems to stand there, isolated’’ unless the word ‘isolated’

was being used as a chemist might to indicate that an element had

been extracted from a compound and could now be examined on

its own, but not implying any intrinsic autonomy. In this room is it

not rather because of its inhuman emptiness that the reds resound

like liturgical invocations? Is it not by contrast with the prevailing

jaundice – yellow that the red turns into a prophetic sign of some

future advent of passion and grace that will reanimate the room’s

stagnant anima? The imperious although peripheral flashing out of

Red, like the bolts of lightning of an abnormally subdued Zeus, out

of the ochre ambiance with its mystifying quality, through its

uniformizing the appearances of everything in the room, first

brought to my mind some youthful verses of Mark Rothko: “Paradise

is like a lamp in the mist ... I see you in a golden haze.: Then I

thought of Goethe, whose anti-Newtonian account of colour

remained the most popular among artists and humanists for more

than a century, until Wittgenstein’s appeared. Goethe’s theory was

that, because red was a component of all colours (every colour

becomes when red is what augmented) it was not strictly speaking

“primary,” but could emerge out of either of the irreducible

primaries i.e. blue and yellow. These crypto-scientific views of

Goethe’s were partly derived from the traditional alchemic sources

that he had studied in his youth. They alleged that the fusion of all

colours did not necessarily result in white, if in luminous form, or in

black if in pigmented form, but always gloriously, in the “supreme

and highest red”. Goethe’s highly implausible displacement of red

from its primary status thus only served to enhance its mysterious

and god-like image in the eyes of both faithful disciples and

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53

Simon whom the Lord renamed Rock seems not to have thoroughly overcome his inner divisions anymore than the Church has

done down to our day and not to have achieved the total wholeness of holiness until his martyrdom, as indeed, according to

the Gospels, Christ himself had foretold. The Red does not feature here surely as a mere colouring of a material binding agent

but as a supernatural force in itself, grace which is nothing but the perfection of nature. A Wittgenstein more disposed to use

the language of traditional theology might well have asked at this conjuncture a fifth question: What is the significance of our

inclination to regard red as a natural sacrament? In Tu es Petrus II, a temple-like structure within the Church in place of an

altarpiece such as, for instance Caravaggio painted of the subject for the Cerasi Chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo, in Rome,

around 1600–1 holds an almost doll-like, nude figure of the Prince of the Apostles, apparently crucified upside down (to be

like but not quite like the Lord).. It is meshed in the swathes of red fabric that have already been seen wound around dead

wood along many other functions elsewhere. Here, no doubt, they are binding Peter (painfully) to the destiny he sought to avoid

when young – by imparting to him the divine force singularly embodied in the Red. Far from being negative its significance is,

paradoxically of liberation. Here indeed the appearance of Red occurs with maximum metaphysical value.

On the contrary, the religious connotations of The Last Supper are as low-key as the rôle of red in this cemetery installation.

A table cloth comes down to earth as carpet. The brownish-yellow dust and soil of the grave-yard site of the installation is

turned by the windblown red fabric into cosmic altar. The whole point of the exercise, however, appears to be that, next to the

glass or chalice of red wine, instead of the expected bread of life, the plate contains the stubs of innumerable cigarettes. The

Red is like a mere Guestmaster of Irony pulling the leg of the Post-Modern Artists who celebrate the Death of Art (after that

of God and of Man) with the failed transubstantiation of the Fag-end. For once the pungent smell of burnt nicotine seems to

undo the flicker of Red.

The tabernacle-like structure wrapped in red in Tu es Petrus harks the mind of anyone familiar with the various stages of

Attard’s artistic itinerary back to the long series of Mihrabs – the pulpit-like structure in Mosques sacred to Quranic

actualisation. But the send-back is even stronger with Beyond Conflict. The title itself rings like an appeal to a wider

ecumenism than was hinted at in Tu Es Petrus. There is a well-proportioned, fairly small scale building which architecturally

evokes a modest, latter-day classical temple, an icon of the common heritage of all Mediterranean and European cultures,

however much they have been twisted and turned in different directions by sectarian factions spinning off from the

monotheistic religion of the Abrahamic Pact. Against a white-cloud-flecked blue sky, the Red fabric hitches on harmoniously

with the Green. The simplicity of the theme is matched by the extremely pleasing visual result obtained here with an almost

child-like delight squirting out of the very aesthetic package. The

use of esoteric variants of red – as in Attard’s Virgin Valley

installation, recalling the soft-core Red-light districts – allows the

generation of highly ambiguous play on the sex-spirituality nexus

and the evocation of the mauve rather than magenta sideways and

byeways of “love”. In this installation, the pronounced androgyny

of the hero in pink makes him/her a distant relative of Leonardo’s

Christ transcending the sexes in the Milanese Last Supper. Is there

an intrinsic link between soft shades of red and heterodox

mysticism? So one might ask tongue-in-cheek, aping the most

blatant mannerism of the later Wittgenstein.

Here I think of J.M.W. Turner. On one hand, he attacked in his

lectures the painters who used colours in general and red and rose

in particular in crudely emblematic or conventionally symbolic ways,

such as his bête noire, Carlo Dolci, with no trace of compassion.

Turner, a Wittgensteinian ante litteram regarding red in this respect,

denied even the association of colours with musical modes that had

resulted in such beliefs as that a blind man might grasp what red

was by hearing a trumpet blast. – Can one understand the nuances

of red in Virgin Valley by listening to twenties jazz? – On the other

hand, Turner was ready to associate red with just sunset, as he does

the other two primary colours with other times of day, as though

they were the modes of Indian ragas. Is Virgin Valley the

development of Sunset Boulevard in the electronic age and

testimony of an intrinsic relationship between the nature of certain

shades of red and certain distinct although indefinite meanings? In

such roundabout ways, Attard arrives at the fourth and deepest of

Wittgenstein’s questions: What is the value of that in the

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twelve installations

appearance of red which inclines us to treat it as a thing , or rather as a superthing? Attard turns for help with the answer to the

greatest artist in red of all times, generally acknowledged to be Caravaggio. There are surely no other reds that can excel or

equal in strength those of the canopy over the dead Virgin and of her dress in the painting now in the Louvre. Norbert Attard

must have by force of circumstance, however, given more attention to the glowing red of the Baptist’s mantle on which the

executioner heavily steps, in the Beheading of St John in the Cathedral in Valletta. The brilliantly flaming mantle is obviously not

a realistic element of the Baptist’s garb, as the sheepskin or camelskin beneath him, might on the contrary well have been. The

red mantle is a sort of heraldic emblem. But Caravaggio does not attempt to create in his works any mystique of Red as Malevich,

for instance, sought to do for White. Attard manages in this Installation with uncanny intuition to capture exactly the two

essential traits of what might well be termed Caravaggio’s rubro-theology. On the one hand the sullied red stuff (which recalls

Wittgenstein’s discussion as to whether it made sense to speak of “blackish red”. – “Here, in this installation, is a sample of

it,” so one would have liked to interject into Wittgenstein’s imaginary conversation) becomes the covering of ritual pillows such

as might have been carried ceremonially by the Grandmaster’s pages or some Roman Cardinal’s altarboys. The pillows support

daggers that the Baptist’s executioner, – with his bare right foot cruelly planted, over and across the prostrate Baptist’s body, on

the red mantle, – hold behind his bent back at the very centre of the large painting, in readiness to administer the coup de grace,

the colpo di grazia, the “stroke of grace”, still needed to totally sever the head from the trunk to which it was still attached by a

thin thread of skin at the neck. The heart of Caravaggio’s red-hot theology is that Grace, the grace of God, comes as violently as

the sin it annuls. On the other hand, it shows itself with an emblematic elegance as opposed to the crudity, brutishness and

chaoticity of destructive violence, but its luminous beauty is nothing but the transfiguration of the same force that emerges in

corrupt form when exercised destructively instead of creatively. The somewhat deflationary treatment of the red stuff in this

splendid installation has enabled Attard to achieve an almost diagrammatic synthesis of Caravaggism with hardly any sacrifice

of complexity or subtlety.

Red may be visible everywhere and anywhere but precisely because it can be seen, it is not God. There is a figurative point

to be made by sometimes personifying it or even superpersonifying it as if it were some kind of demiurge out of Plato’s

Timaeus. Is red therefore a mere “accident” by nature, although it may haunt the cosmos all over? Caravaggio in fact removes

the temptation to substantivize Red by displaying its analogicity. There is a common denominator in all its appearances:

extraordinary force; but there is also diversity of value in each of them from highly positive to abysmally negative. A series of

Caravaggio’s works would have to be looked at to perceive that what binds all the manifestations of red together is a family

likeness. This perception can be obtained much more easily from Norbert Attard’s series of installations recorded in this book.

T U E S P E T R U S I V I R G I N V A L L E Y

I S E E R E D E V E R Y W H E R E

T H E L A S T S U P P E R

B E Y O N D C O N F L I C T

L O V E I S A L L T H E R E I ST U E S P E T R U S I I

B E D O F R O S E S

A P L A C E C A L L E D P A R A D I S E I

A P L A C E C A L L E D P A R A D I S E I I

C A R A V A G G I O

O N E E X T R E M E T O A N O T H E R

T U E S P E T R U S I

St Peter’s Church, Liverpool, England.

Curated by Bill Maynard.

Organised by Urban Splash, Liverpool, England.

60 metres red fabric, two metres high sculpture of St Peter.

TU ES PETRUS I & I I Q U E N T I N H U G H E S

Tradition suggests that Peter was killed in the Roman circus on the order of the emperor, crucified between

two metas (inter duas metas) or pyramidical-shaped obelisks in about the year 64. Positioned at his own

request with his head down, he was nailed to a cross.

Michelangelo, in the Paolina Chapel, shows an early stage in the crucifixion when Peter is still fully

conscious, looking up to watch what is happening as his cross is placed diagonally, ready for erection on

the site. But probably the most important and the most influential early depiction is that done by Antonio

Filarate between 1439 and 1445, for the scene is formed in one of the lowest and most visible panels on

the great bronze doors that confront everyone on their approach to the Basilica of St Peter in Rome.

Filarete’s bronze casting shows the martyr suspended in an equilateral triangle at the apex of the panel

with, below him, the two metas (later called the Meta di Borgo and the Terebinth of Nero) and the

Mausoleum of Hadrian, later to become the pope’s castle of St Angelo.

Images of the Crucifixion of Christ abound. There are numerous paintings from the time of the Renaissance.

They are almost commonplace, so that we accept the symbolism often without much thought. But visions

of the crucifixion of St Peter are more rare, and thus more susceptible to fresh interpretation. Norbert

Attard’s is the latest in a tradition and, in many ways, one of the most impressive, for this one hits us like

an electric shock. It confronts us with new attitudes. It redefines and links to our past, horror, shock and

sympathy, feelings that, because of the immediacy of the transmission of the visual scene in our present

century, abound each day in our lives.

The colour Red links this scene of martyrdom with other scattered images in the exhibition and is the

artist’s liet-motif. Red is an ambivalent colour. It is the colour of danger so that we react against it and pull

back. But it is the colour of blood that strangely draws us for basically we are a carnivorous breed that,

through the centuries, has lusted in its spillage. Red is the colour of rage and aggression. The red bands

of cloth bind the dying figure of Peter even more closely than those nails that pinned him to the cross and

we achieve an empathy with him in his helplessness.

T U E S P E T R U S I I

St.Peter’s Church, Liverpool, England.

Curated by Bill Maynard.

Organised by Urban Splash, Liverpool, England.

100 metres of red fabric, two 3 metres high megalithic rocks.

The whole incident is powerfully expressed so that we feel the agony within

the tortured body. But then, faced by an image almost too strong to bear for

long, we turn away and face the two megaliths set side by side, one the

reproduction of an ancient carved stone, the other a precast modern block,

and they too are tied by interwoven red cloth so that they are intrinsically

bound. What do they represent? This is hard to discern. One was obviously

inspired by those ancient megalithic carved temple stones of Malta, the

other by the craze of modern man to build unceasingly, block upon block,

building upon building. for the creation of his megalopolises.

Norbert Attard’s modern interpretation of the theme places the crucified

martyr between the two Corinthian columns of an aedicule that might seem

to represent the two pyramids or metas in the Circus of Nero between

which he is thought to have been killed, and shown on Filarate’s panel.

A masterly new choice of site for this very powerful sculptural group; Peter

is framed within the aedicule at the east end of a redundant Catholic church

once dedicated to St Peter in Seel Street, Liverpool. The plaster is peeled

from the wall behind the head of the crucified martyr, revealing bare, harsh

brickwork. Peter, his eyes blinded by the enveloping cloth, his body hanging

suspended between its folds, has been lifted from the cross and hangs

there in mid air, propelled upside down towards his heaven. The naked

figure is stripped of all raiment, pinioned in mid-flight, yet inevitably

ascending, his feet reaching up towards the triumphal climax of the

composition, the triangular pediment of the church aedicule. It is a most

powerful and moving portrayal.

C A R AVA G G I O

Gozo Contemporary, Gharb, Gozo, Malta.

Curated by Norbert Francis Attard.

Pillows, knives, wooden box with four wheels,

fluorescent paint, 10mm thick glass.

CARAVAGGIO E M M A N U E L F I O R E N T I N O

Despite his undoubted greatness as an artist, there is a tragic sense of

drama in the way we view Caravaggio’s role in art history. A man of violence

besotted by his need for appreciative patronage from cardinals and princes,

often on the run from the law, his ill fortune was, paradoxically, the catalyst

for his singular manner of giving new direction to artistic expression.

Caravaggio’s name was written in blood both literally and loosely. Even the

only known example of his signature-in The Beheading of St John – is

inscribed with the red paint used for the spilled blood of the Baptist. In this

installation, we gaze down upon a box-like construction filled with reddish

painted bed pillows. It is supported by wheels at each corner, symbolising

the restless trajectories of Caravaggio’s short life. Resting at random on the

pillows are some 20 daggers of different shapes, some of which are

spattered with red paint, indicating how even during his night’s rest,

Caravaggio was ready to defend himself from his enemies. Equally

significant is the glass surface exerting pressure on the pillows as if to

signify the physical and psychological tension to which he was constantly

subjected. One particular work of Caravaggio’s was Narcissus (Galleria

Nazionale, Rome) where the idea of looking into one’s own reflection is of

paramount importance. And as we look down into Attard’s pillow-filled box

we see our own reflection, in what amounts to a narcissistic cum perceptual

experience, making us feel that Caravaggio’s spirit can exist in anyone who

cares to look. This feeling is further extrapolated as we look at the nearby

wall with 10 mirrored panels, sandblasted in part to show images of a

dagger and corresponding to the 10 letters of the word ‘Caravaggio’

appearing on the respective handles of the daggers. As we view our own

reflection in the mirror, we immediately become aware of the presence of

the dagger image right next to us. As a result we recognise, through events

in life which might not be actually similar to those of Caravaggio himself,

the modern relevance of an eminent artistic personality of the past.

T H E L A S T S U P P E R

Cemetery at the Church of ‘Ta’ Zejt’, Gharb, Gozo, Malta.

Curated by David Apap.

Red fabric, twelve plates, forks, knives, glasses, wine,

ashes and cigarette ends.

THE LAST SUPPER P A U L S A N T C A S S I A

Attard’s work presents the detritus of a non-existent meal. They may even be attracting flies – but whereas

Damian Hirst was interested in decaying transformation, Attard is interested in the nausea of objects. This

does not appear to have been a meal. There is no detritus of food. This Last Supper Mark II relies on the

seductive (and ultimately narcissistic) juxtaposition of an evocative title with a transgressive combination

of objects. Perhaps the original Last Supper was precisely a sordid, unpleasant, nervous affair. But the

lasting impression of Attard’s Last Supper work is secularly bleak, almost Godotian, but without the latter’s

intriguing and mocking irony – i.e. without the barb in the hook that tears into the fisherman’s finger at the

precise moment he rips the hook out of the gaping lips of the fish. Rather, we get post-modern ethically

neutral, apolitical irony: the shuddering impact of the whale-killing explosive harpoon, delivered with

aesthetically clinical precision from a safe telescopic distance. Gone are the questions that would have

troubled medieval writers or even art historians: Was the detritus of the meal itself holy? How should it

have been treated? And why were there no sacred relics of the original meal, in contrast to the mass-

production of, and voracious appetite for, relics that accompanied and facilitated the spread of the new

religion in the first historical example of globalisation? Perhaps that is a key to the significance to The Last

Supper Mark 1, and its difference to Attard’s Last Supper. The original Last Supper sacramentalised (and

thus aesthesised) all other subsequent meals. It relied upon, and employed, a symbolism that was

supremely transferable, humanly adaptable and embedded, transforming the most ordinary of secular

rituals into a potentially transcendental recreation of the world and its suffering. By relying on humble

products of man’s interaction with nature, it transcended matter. Whereas the original deipnon aethesised

the original combination of words, actions, and shamanic transformations for all time, contemporary

artistic shamanism, jealous of that original power, aesthesises its denial through mock representation. Our

contemporary Last Suppers commemorate nothing but detritus, the products of a world that glorifies not

certainty but uncertainty, commemorating the transient because that may be all much contemporary art

can encompass. Unable to bear this wasteland, its own cultural production, it attempts through our modern

cultural Taliban (our curators and much of the contemporary art industry, for art is a cultural product like any

other) to transcend this spiritual poverty, through the aesthetic narcissism of words, events, happenings,

installations, and simulated voyeuristic self-referentiality – a modern simulated iconophilia through an

anxiously displayed iconoclasm. That is the genius of our unintent, the cunningness of our unreason.

I S E E R E D E V E R Y W H E R E

‘Uber’ group show of fourteen artists, Portomaso, Paceville, Malta.

Curated by Mark Mangion.

100 metres of fabric and dead tree.

I SEE RED EVERYWHERE F I O N A C A L D E R

Red is part of the colour spectrum visible to the human eye when light in the wavelength-range of

740 – 620 nanometres falls on the retina – It is a primary, or fundamental colour – The many tints and

shades of red can induce feelings of love and caring at one end of the range to complete ruthlessness at

the other. Red is opposite to green on the colour wheel – It energises, activates, increases blood pressure,

stimulates appetite and affects the muscular system – Red is the colour of blood, the medium through

which all the active cells and tissues of the body are kept in intimate relationship. Red is everywhere –

Look and you will see it – Somewhere – There! – See! Even the tiniest amount catches the eye. Red

demands attention – Evokes an emotional response – both good and bad.

V I O L E N C E and love. Red for strength but also for shame. Red cross – Red crescent – Poppies for peace

Red-hot = extreme. Religion R E V O L U T I O N Red tape “We’ll keep the red flag flying high.......

”Red is powerful – Dangerous – Passionate – Consuming – It excites basic instincts. Dominates

Urges action before thought. – Makes us feel adventurous, daring, ready to take risks.

Red light district. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh............ Red is restless – Vibrant – Demanding

Red doesn’t sleep. Red commands – It doesn’t ask. Red provokes – Infuriates – Inflames

Gives no favours – Beguiles – Dismisses. Red telephone box – Communication – or the lack of it.

“It makes me see red.” Anger, confusion, hurt, anxiety. Red traffic light – It spells out a warning.

S T O P!

“Oh my love is like a red red rose.” “Lady in red..........” “Be my Valentine.” “I hate you.” “Kiss me.”

I See Red Everywhere encompasses a reflection of life in all its forms, from the spiritual to the chaotic,

from unconditional love to extreme hate – It sinuously explores the duality of man’s destructive nature,

opposing his desire for total balance. – Within this urgent, restless continuum of human existence – this

almost figurative representation of the very life blood that drives and sustains us in perfect symmetry –

the lifeless tree serves as a warning to man that by destroying nature – by upsetting and denying the

balance of the natural world – he is in the gravest danger of annihilating himself – it is a warning he

ignores at his peril. – Red is powerful but it is not omnipotent.

I SEE RED EVERYWHERE R A P H A E L V E L L A

Red is probably the most abused colour in the spectrum. It shocks television

viewers when it makes a sudden appearance at war scenes but returns to

banality whenever it colours fast-food chains. The sheer strength and

brilliance of red make it the most ambiguous of colours: it can represent

sexual passion or even maternal warmth and patriotic love, but it often

borders on vulgarity.

Its multivocal character is probably a result of its “excessive” nature. Red is

always “in excess”: it is always too hot, too eye-catching, too partisan, too

greedy, too painful, too noisy. It doesn’t ask politely for our attention; it

demands it! This is the essence of its vulgarity. Red refuses to be subtle. It

doesn’t know when enough is enough.

The lone tree engulfed by red fabric in I See Red Everywhere stands at the

other extreme. Without leaves and roots, the tree is denuded, its death laid

bare before our eyes. This minimalism is the opposite of excess. Here, we

are faced by the minimal visual and material requirements for a tree. The

trunk and branches still resemble what once was a living thing, but this tree

is no longer biologically active. Alive, the tree would be a symbol of

patience.

Dead, it has ceased its slow, organic quest for growth. Swallowed up by

that torrent of red, the dead tree nevertheless acts as a fulcrum. It stands

balanced calmly at the centre of that wave of violent colour, as though it

were always meant to be there. It brings back a sense of order to the most

disorderly, excessive colour of all. Excess is balanced by lack; energy is

balanced by the stillness of death.

B E D O F R O S E S

Gozo Contemporary, Gharb, Gozo, Malta.

Curated by Norbert Francis Attard.

Text on wooden head boards, metal beds and artificial roses.

BED OF ROSES E M M A N U E L F I O R E N T I N O

For some reason or other, we spend a good part of our life in bed. Much of that time is taken up by sleep

and its accompanying dreams. We might even dream on the same bed in our waking state as we rest to

recoup our energy, lolling about the flights of fancy that we wish to shed on to our life. The bed is equally

associated with sexual activity and its accompanying pleasure. Occasionally, that same piece of furniture

is the place of confinement when we are sick. And to bracket everything, it is also normally the setting

both for our birth and for our last moments before death. In other words, that singular item within the

household furniture embraces so many activities that are either happy, loving and lustful by their very

nature, or morose and piquantly fateful. Within such a scenario the bed becomes a melange of what we

deem to be good and pleasant, and those moments where we suffer physically and emotionally. The bed

truly is for all intents and purposes a ‘bed of roses’ with its joyous explosion of flowers set amid the thorns

of discomfort. It could be both life-enhancing as well as defining the extremes of our physical existence.

In other words, it becomes an allegory for the extent of life itself.

With this in mind, Norbert Francis Attard has arrayed a set of seven beds, similar in all details except for

the words Birth, Dreams, Sleep, Pleasure, Rest, Illness and Death which are respectively incised on their

front. The beds stand side by side as if to outline the different roles that the very idea of the bed exerts

along the path of our life. They are empty beds, shorn even of a mattress, but still within the same ring we

can imagine the diversity of activities unfolded for each situation. While the seven beds conform to a

morphological unity throughout their display, an eighth bed precariously hangs suspended above them.

This time, however, it is disposed askew from the rest as it leans perilously without the definite assertion

belonging to the rest, while thereby affirming both the known and the unforeseeable circumstances to

which the bed enters into our everyday living. This eighth bed, inscribed and literally presented as the

Bed of Roses, is thus completely relevant towards dissecting the artist’s thoughts about the trajectory of

life itself. Its placement above the rest, and the instability of its position as contrasted to the fixedly stable

statement applicable to each of the others, thus serves to sustain the central idea about the web of roles

which the bed reserves for us. And maybe the very fact that the Bed of Roses does no longer hug the

ground as the others do, should add that conceptual element about how the entire combination of bed-

related activities is hereby raised to a new level.

B E Y O N D C O N F L I C T

The Oratory, 2nd Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool, England.

Curated by Mike Hurst.

Organised by the afoundation, Liverpool, England.

300 metres of red and green fabric woven onto existing façade.

BEYOND CONFLICT J U L I A N T R E U H E R Z

The Oratory stands near Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral. In contrast to the

Cathedral’s dramatic, cliff-like mass of soaring stonework and lacy Gothic

details, the Oratory is small, refined and perfectly controlled in its classical

symmetry. The Oratory was used for burials. It was where the coffins were

placed during funeral services before being taken down to the cemetery

below and interred in the earth. Death and mourning, the controlled

decorum of the Christian burial service, the tasteful sorrow of the ritual, the

lack of colour – all white marble and grey stone – this typifies the Oratory.

Suddenly its frontage has been draped in vivid red and green fabric, crude

colours flowing straight from the dyer’s vat, broad ribbons interweaving

across the monolithic Doric columns. Is it an enormously magnified

illustration of warp and weft? or a fattened-up impersonation of a

telephone box? (the Cathedral and the red telephone box were both

designed by the same architect).

Red and Green are complementary colours; opposites on the ‘Colour

Wheel’. Used together, their respective vibrating energies produce contrast

harmony. Red for power and domination, green for balance; red for activity,

green for rest and relaxation; red for passion, green for calm. Both colours

stimulate reactions and arouse emotions – some good, and some

disturbing. They may attract or they may repel. Starting with religion as a

premise, this work explores conflict and contradictions through the

iconography of red and green, and leads the observer on a journey of

dualities by demonstrating the inter-dependence of opposites. For a

classical temple, the intervention should be startling. But despite the

dazzling optical contrast of red and green, the interlocking of red, the colour

of blood and Christian sacrifice with the green of nature and Islam,there is

no real conflict. The Oratory can take its temporary dressing in its stride and

remain faithful to itself.

O N E E X T R E M E T O A N O T H E R

St Leonards School, St Andrews, Scotland.

Curated by Donna Rae.

White fabric stretched between two existing trees, text sprayed

in red, table, chair and computer keyboard.

ONE EXTREME TO ANOTHER D I A N A S Y K E S

Two boys walk through the garden, stop, point and talk about the installation

which has appeared and surprised them. Then they hover by the artist until

he is free and one asks urgently “Where did you get the idea?” It is an

encouraging question, recognising the conceptual dimension to art, and it

has many answers. One Extreme to Another links visually to an earlier work

in the series – I See Red Everywhere with taut fabric combined with trees.

Instead of a sterile car park with a dead tree, however, the cloth here binds

a pair of sturdy living trees already in conversation with their branches and

leaves growing towards each other. On a previous visit to St Leonards School

in the ancient university town of St Andrews, the artist had noticed these

trees and decided to make a work with them. When he returned he

discovered he had intuitively brought exactly the correct length of cloth to

join them. Fittingly for a school, the multiple associations of the word ‘red’

have been explored. The artist invited the collaboration of pupils from the

youngest primary to the seniors. One can imagine the fun of spray painting

the words as educational graffiti! The pupils demonstrate how ‘red’ can

evoke pleasure (kiss, vitality, rose) or pain (war, blood, embarrassment) as

well as politics (socialist, red flag), symbolism (VIP, red carpet) or coded

instruction (no entry, stop). Many other tensions, dualities and

complementary opposites are contained within or suggested by the

installation. As the cloth stretches between the trunks, it is both unifying and

constraining – perhaps like school itself. The red paint suggests blood on a

bandage but also provides the formal opposite to the fresh expanses of

green leaves and grass. By suspending a computer keyboard on a battered

old school table up in the air, the artist hints at the freedom afforded by

human ideas and knowledge. These are necessarily grounded by the chair,

rooted in nature. The installation, therefore, interacts richly with its

surroundings and even moves with the wind. It echoes the tennis nets hung

nearby and the carved drapery of the garden’s eroding stone sundial. These

are some of the answers the artist may have offered his young spectator.

ONE EXTREME TO ANOTHER R I C H A R D C A R R

Imagine the serenity of an old garden in St Andrews where two sycamore

trees stand apart on the edge of a big lawn surrounded by a stone wall. It is

a setting reminiscent of the days when people took tea at 4 in the afternoon,

followed by a leisurely game of croquet before it was time to dress for

dinner. But, as anyone who has played croquet knows, it is a game full of

passion. And passion is revealed by the concentration of red words that

embrace the trunks of both trees before streaming towards a table

suspended at midpoint between them. The words have been written on

white fabric which, besides connecting the two trees and supporting the

table a metre or so above the ground, narrows like an arrow to the midpoint

as if gathering speed. At the same time the words, passionate like the colour

in which they are written, also speed up so that their intensity lessens to the

point where they are indistinct when they reach the table. There, the fabric

has become almost white. At this point, one imagines, they pass through the

table to the computer keyboard that sits on top. Both table and keyboard are

red. Maybe the colour is all that is left as the words stream out into the ether.

Serenity and passion, nature and artifice – the life force expressed by the

garden and its trees, and the dynamism expressed by the words and the

keyboard, all are represented in this installation. And, given that the

installation includes a small wooden chair which faces the table and its

keyboard, but is nevertheless separate with its feet firmly on the ground, the

extremes may indeed be nature and technology. Both are often subjected to

human passion. But, if the people who wrote the words – pupils at St

Leonard’s School in St Andrews – are to have a future, then these two

extremes must be reconciled. This is even suggested by the tension of the

fabric between the two trees. From afar, it looks taught and rigid, an ideal

medium for the transmission of words. But close up, the fabric is full of life, its

edges trembling in the wind. Does this signify Nature itself trembling on the

edge of a world increasingly dominated by technology?

V I R G I N VA L L E Y

D-Klubb Discotheck, Limits of Rabat, Malta.

Curated by David Darmanin.

Organised by Startup – Malta.

Manequin with tophat, wedding dress, dead branches of trees,

2 red bulbs, 4 ultra-violet lights.

VIRGIN VALLEY K E N N E T H W A I N

The piece is installed in a discothèque that lies at the limit of Rabat overlooking a large valley, hence its

title. The interpretation it renders itself most readily to, therefore, is as a comment, if an ambiguous one

in its content, on the systematic rape and violation of the virgin valleys of the Maltese Islands over these

last two to three decades by land speculators, and on the dangers threatening this one. The installation

comprises a male mannequin wearing a white top hat and red bow tie, and a long, finely embroidered,

bride’s wedding dress, standing on a bed of branches that are placed in such a way, pointing downwards,

that they resemble the roots of a tree out of which the mannequin seems to grow. The ultra violet lights

directed on it from the four angles turns the figure mauvish, while invisible red light bulbs underneath

create an aura for it that spreads over the floor. The total visual effect is macabre, reminiscent of the world

of voodoo, of the living dead. The challenging question it poses is why a male mannequin in a female

wedding dress? The symbolism of the dress itself is, of course, obvious. The white dress symbolises

virginity; the virginity of the valley. Why then stain it with mauve? And why place a male mannequin inside

it? Who, or what does the mannequin represent or symbolise? The land speculator? Why is he so calm and

detached, gazing blankly as he does downward at the viewer, so obviously a mannequin, and yet so

obviously also, something else? And, finally, why place him on top of what, looking at it with different eyes,

could be described as a flaming pyre that threatens to consume him? Is there a hidden comment here also?

The destroyed valley seeking revenge? These are some of the more obvious questions, enigmas, that

present themselves to the viewer who is also disturbed by the fact that, from a distance, the figure appears

as a kind of apparition from hell floating in mid air in a haze of red light. They are questions, and there are

undoubtedly many others too, that the artist appears to delight in raising. One of the interesting features

of the work, in fact, is that notwithstanding that, like all Attard’s work not simply his installations, its

architecture is thoughtfully planned out and constructed, neatly and intelligently executed with no rough

edges or accidental features. There is the strong suggestion about it of the unconscious that gives it its

enigmatic character and renders it fascinating. According to another interpretation, for instance, it could

reflect his abiding interest in the world of dream and nightmare that he usually keeps well hidden in his

graphic work. Here, to the contrary, in this installation, it seems to manifest itself explicitly so that the title

he has chosen for it could, perhaps, be a trap for the viewer; a way of sending the viewer down the wrong

interpretative track, a track leading into a valley and away from himself, from his own subconscious mind.

That is, if there were such a thing as a right track!

L O V E I S A L L T H E R E I S

Apex Hotel, Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Curated by Richard Demarco.

Organised by the Demarco European Art Foundation.

Vinyl on transparent plastic sheets and light bulbs.

LOVE IS ALL THERE IS NEIL CAMERON

In the lounge of a city-centre hotel in Scotland’s capital city there is dialogue. It is not simply bar-room

chatter. One wall of the room is punctured with glass. Behind this vitreous veil are words. In different

architectonic configurations and typefaces words interact with each other, interrogate each other,

contradict each other. All are red. Norbert Attard has joined the conversation.

The words may cascade across the wall but this is not a thoughtless cacophony. There is structure here. A

diagonal stripe pulls everything together, both visually and thematically. This is the iconic red stripe on the

bottle, the ribbon on the present, the red tape around the document. But while the form may partly connote

the imagery of fiscal documentation, the words transcend the reductionist language of bureaucracy,

imitating its pretensions only to subvert them. This is a billet-doux from a non-conformist.

This work allows you to take a tour around the extremities of the iconography of the colour red. Red is the

colour with the widest range of reference-points – and the most contradictory. It is the colour of passion

and embarrassment, love and of hate, peace and war. It is found in the natural world – most often as a

sign of danger – but is also a key part of the man-made spectrum. Attard encompasses them all in his tour

of the world written red. This work was made for a part of Europe someone once described as a

semiconductor country – not just because of its computer industry. Scotland is a country of duality,

extending from the binary foundations of computing to artistic traditions which express nothing so much

as dichotomy. This is truly the land of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Attard’s invention could not be more appropriate – he patrols the remote borders of meaning, linking

opposites, contrasts, negatives and positives.

But let’s not forget that this work does far more than add an intriguing frisson to the murmur in the lounge

of a boutique hotel on the periphery of Europe. It is a work conceived by a Maltese artist and curated by

one of Scotland’s great artistic visionaries, Richard Demarco. Here we have an iconic expression of what

Europe can mean. It is not just about consistent prices for new cars from Bremen to Bilbao and a vague

sense of economic interdependence, but a real sense of cultural exchange and involvement. Attard is

Maltese, but what he has created in Edinburgh is truly European.

LOVE IS ALL THERE IS RICHARD CARR

Just as space adjacent to bars often attracts written and visual material of

some sort – so words in red have filled these panels of opaque glass, their

colour, changes of scale and irregularity contrasting sharply with the cool

and rather anonymous character of the bar itself. This installation treats the

panels like a computer screen except that, instead of one ‘window’

replacing another, two or even three ‘windows’ are revealed at the same

time because the words within the panels are multi-layered. Thus, while

lines of small words run from one side of the installation to the other and

say things like Powerful, Vibrant and Red Giant, there are other areas where

the artist has added other layers. On the left side is a heart-shaped form

with large, freely drawn words such as In the Red, Red Light District and

Poppies for Peace. And then, where the window is, there is a wide, diagonal

red bar and this time small cut-out words that need a burst of sunlight to

bring them to life. The wide, diagonal bar reflects the purpose of the opaque

panel, which is almost certainly to conceal a service court on the other side

of the wall. And, in the right hand panel, is another superimposition – more

large, freely drawn words on a wedge-shaped form that points towards the

top of the installation. Unlike those within the heart, these talk about

Religion, Revolution, Violence, Love and Hate. While the stream of printed

words imitates the flow of information provided through the computer

screen, it is the words reflecting personal passion that really count. While

love is all there is, it is not separate from all the other events and emotions

that obscure this fundamental truth. When seen from sitting at a table in the

Metro Bar, the installation illuminates its setting rather like a series of shop

windows at night. It is only when looking at the installation closely that its

subtlety is revealed. And then, because the words are covered by glass,

comes the question: has the piece been installed behind glass because

there is a curator who wants to preserve a piece of history? The area has

been highlighted and the message is, Do Not Touch. But for the artist, this

is not how he sees his installations. For him, they are impermanent.

A P L A C E C A L L E D PA R A D I S E I

Cityspaces, 78 Old Mint Street, Valletta, Malta.

Curated by Raphael Vella.

Organised by Y.M.C.A. Valletta, Malta.

Handwritten text, sand, deck-chair, umbrella, existing sink and

bucket, submersable pump and golden tap.

A PLACE CALLED PARADISE I & II R A P H A E L V E L L A

The idea that happiness is not a place or a thing found one of its earliest

expressions in Diogenes and the Cynics. Diogenes lived at a time when it

was still apparently possible to couple life and word in a tight embrace. His

“doggish” existence, characterized by an absolute refusal to allow material

things and power to play central roles, was the “signifier” itself: Diogenes’

life was his philosophy incarnate. Today, it is doubtful whether it is

necessary or even possible for a thinker or an artist to refuse the comforts

of a bourgeois life simply to be in a position (not compromised by

contradiction) to communicate this point. There exists a stronger possibility

today that the artist will actually need to immerse himself or herself in

those comforts to produce a relevant and communicable critique.

Intentional or otherwise, this is the dominant paradox at work in Norbert

Attard’s A Place Called Paradise (1 & 2). Like all artists (especially

installation artists), Attard requires a place or site to work in, but the

paradox here is that Attard must use a place to critique the notion of

paradise-as-place. In short, abstinence à la Diogenes is not an option for

Attard. The basic requirements of installation art do not permit him to

sacrifice the topos, even though he wants to suggest that happiness (both

subjective happiness and objectively desirable eudaimonia) and topos are

not interdependent. The nature of art (is this also its limitation?) ties the

artist’s work to a physical space; if happiness lacks a direct relationship to

a specific location, art must always locate itself (unhappily) within a space.

Attard’s installations take their cue from Alain de Botton’s The Art of Travel.

In de Botton’s book, two characters go to Barbados for a holiday and end up

arguing over their crème caramel during lunch. The moral of the story: that

natural beauty or material wealth are neither sufficient to keep conflicts at

bay nor will they solve conflicts once they arise. Quoting from the “wisdom

of certain ancient philosophers who walked away from prosperity and sophistication”, de Botton muses

that the key to happiness can only be psychological, an internal rather than external problem.

Perhaps herein lies Attard’s way of coming to terms with the paradox mentioned in the first paragraph. If

the key to happiness is indeed internal, then the external must itself be internalized. Wealth must be

transferred within: this is what happens in Attard’s A Place called Paradise. A small, poor room in a

dilapidated Valletta building is transformed into a beach scene, complete with umbrella, deck-chair and

false sand (beneath which a chapter from de Botton’s book, traced in red letters on the floor in the artist’s

own handwriting, invites the viewer to become a participant). The public is surprised by this quasi-

surrealist juxtaposition of opposites: the last thing you would expect to find in a slum is a manifestation

of physical bliss. This element of surprise returns when one looks at the far end of the room, where a

golden tap over a sink continuously pours forth deep red liquid resembling blood, creating an image of

waste. Outside the room, one hundred red towels hang from gold pegs over the dimly-lit courtyard.

The seaside is probably the epitome of the external, with its horizon, its vastness, its currents, its open sky

as well as its connotations of travel and distance. Attard attaches this image of pleasure and luxury to the

squalor of a slum interior. Barbados is within. As de Botton suggests, we should not blame the weather

for our misery.

Of course, this image of paradise is not objective: paradise cannot be objectified in a way that would

result in universal satisfaction or consensus. Nor can we escape bad weather all the time: our joys and

our disappointments always take place within a physical context, the body as well as the site of the

body in space. For the attachment to a place is not a quality exclusively owned by art or installation art;

even our moments of happiness are topographically and temporally situated. There exist limits even to

how much a person can abstain from life’s comforts. As long as life persists in our bodies, we cannot

escape space. Perhaps this is why we attach so much importance to the places of our lives. We might

have no choice.

A P L A C E C A L L E D PA R A D I S E I I

Cityspaces, 78 Old Mint Street, Valletta, Malta.

Curated by Raphael Vella.

Organised by Y.M.C.A., Valletta, Malta.

Washing line with 100 hanging towels and golden pegs.

artist’s biography

personal and collective exhibitions

selected bibliography

selected awards

NORBERT FRANCIS ATTARD

A trained architect with more than 20 years experience in practice,

Norbert Francis Attard is equally well known for his paintings and limited

edition prints. He is now applying his architectural and painterly skills

and sensibilities to creating multi-media installations which are usually

site specific and often ephemeral in nature. He was born in Malta in

1951 and lives and works on the sister island of Gozo.

He expresses his ideas mainly through the use and response to existing

architectural spaces and also through his sculpture which include a

range of unorthodox man-made or natural materials and elements,

sometimes carefully combined with video or slide projection, but always

meticulously constructed with an architect’s disciplined eye for detail. A

common thread running through his work from the start is the

unbalanced and often chaotic relationship between man and nature. In

everything he does there is a quest for meaning.

A founding member of the Artists in Nature International Network, he

represented Malta at the 48th International Biennale in Venice in 1999,

and is the designer and director of GOZO contemporary, a large new art

space on the island of Gozo, offering self-directed residencies in visual

art, video and interactive media to visiting artists from Malta and around

the world. He is currently a committee member of the Malta Council for

the Arts and Culture.

2 0 0 2

Tu Es Petrus, St.Peters Church, Liverpool, England.

One Extreme to Another, St Leonards School,

St Andrews, Scotland.

Love is all there is, Apex Hotel, Edinburgh

International Festival, Scotland.

Virgin Valley, D-Klub, Limits of Rabat, Gozo, Malta

2 0 0 1

Bed of Roses, GO ZO Contemporary, Gharb, Gozo, Malta.

Art and Finance (together with Vince Briffa),

Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

1 9 9 9

Larger than Life I, St James Cavalier, Valletta, Malta.

Rites of Passage, Auberge de Castille, Valletta, Malta.

1 9 9 7

Galerie Isshorst, Hamminkeln, Germany.

Museum of Egyptian Modern Art, Cairo, Egypt.

Rathaus, Heitersheim, Germany.

1 9 9 6

Foundation for International Studies, Valletta, Malta.

Palais de l’Europe, Strassbourg, France.

Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta.

Galerie Het Bourlahuis, Antwerp, Belgium.

Roemer-und Palizaeus Museum, Hildesheim, Germany.

Tepco Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.

A.N.W.B., The Hague, The Netherlands.

Galerie Koncept, Sommerhausen, Germany.

1 9 9 5

Council of Europe, Strassbourg, France.

Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta, Malta

1 9 9 4

Wands Showroom, Valletta, Malta.

1 9 9 2

Galleria Gaulos, Victoria, Gozo.

1 9 9 1

4 Abstract Artists, Museum of Archaeology, Valletta, Malta.

1 9 8 8

Musee Regional de Rimouski, Quebec, Canada.

Kunstverein zu Frenchen, Frenchen, Germany.

1 9 8 7

Alvin Gallery, Hong Kong.

Editions Galleries, Melbourne, Australia.

Northern Life Museum, Forth Smith,Canada.

St Paul Art Gallery, St Paul, Alberta, Canada.

Portland Studio, Suffolk, England.

1 9 8 6

Moose Jaw Art Museum, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Bridge Street, Gallery, Sydney, Australia.

Medicine Hat Museum, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada.

Cronguist House, Multi-Cultural Centre, Red Deer, Canada.

Prairie Gallery, Grand Prairies, Alberta, Canada.

The Madrona Centre, Nanaimi, British Columbia. Canada.

1 9 8 5

Republic of Caryelskya, Petrozavodsk, USSR.

Friendship House, Moscow, USSR.

Nora Art Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel.

Museum Willen Van Haren, Leeuwarden, Holland.

Sydney Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia.

1 9 8 4

L’Atelier du Caire, Cairo, Egypt.

Galerie Lughien, Amsterdam, Holland.

Galerie Ripard, Montingy-sur-Loing, France.

Union of Artist’s Gallery, Moscow, USSR.

1 9 8 3

Galerie T. Weefhuis, Nuenen, The Netherlands.

Gallerie de Amicis, Florence, Italy.

Museum of Archaeology, Valletta, Malta.

1 9 8 2

Twentse Schouwburg, Enschede, The Netherlands.

Istituto Naz. di previdenza Sociale, Syracuse, Sicily.

The Komos, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

1 9 8 1

State Cultural Centre, Hasselt, Belgium.

Starken Interieurs, Valkenswaard, The Netherlands.

The Un-Common Gallery, Bryan, Texas, USA.

1 9 8 0

Philips-Ontspanning-Centrum, Eindhoven, Holland.

Galerie Punkt, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Galerie des Lombards, Paris, France.

Galerie Meiborssen, Meiborssen, Germany.

Commonwealth Institute, London, England.

1 9 7 9

Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta.

Galerie L’Angle Aigu, Brussels, Belgium.

Städtsihe Galerie, Bergkamen, Germany.

Galerie Sabock Cologne, Germany.

Städtische Galerie, Stolberg, Rhineland, Germany.

Graphiksammlung Dieter Lohl, Unna, Westfalen, Germany.

Galerie der Stadbucherei, Kamen, Westfalen, Germany.

1 9 7 8

Kliene Galerie am Zoo, Dusseldorf, Germany.

Galerie Sabock, Gologne, Germany.

Galerie Ostentor, Dormund, Germany.

Kunst auf dem Flett, Skye-Henstedt, Germany.

1 9 7 7

Galerie Studio 1, St Augustin, Bonn, Germany.

Galerie Burg Zweiffel, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany.

Dresdner Bank Galerie, Cologne, Germany.

1 9 7 6

Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta.

1 9 7 4

Phoenicia Hotel, Floriana, Malta.

2 0 0 2

Uber, Group show of fourteen artists, Portomaso,

Paceville, Malta.

Beyond Conflict, The Oratory, Liverpool Biennial, England.

Cityspaces, 78 Old Mint Street, Valletta, Malta

2 0 0 1

The Floating Land, International Site Specific Art

Laboratory, Noosa, Queensland, Australia.

Sticks and Stones, Woodford Festival, Woodford,

Queensland, Australia.

70/2000, On the road to Meikle Seggie, National

Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania.

2 0 0 0

Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston upon Thames, England.

Edinburgh City Art Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Back to Babel, St James Centre for Creativity,

Valletta, Malta.

Ora Pro Nobis, 3rd Biennale of Christian Art,

Cathedral Museum, Mdina, Malta.

1 9 9 9

National Maritime Museum, Vittoriosa, Malta.

Matthew Gallery, Edinburgh International Festival, Scotland.

Tolerance of Ambiguity, Diaspora International Art

Meeting, Oviedo, Spain.

2nd Biennale di Firenze, Florence, Italy.

Larger Than Life II, 48th Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy.

1 9 9 8

Gallery of the Regierung von Oberbyern, Munich, Germany

European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium.

German-Maltese Circle, Valletta, Malta.

Grands et Jeune d’aujourd hui, Paris, France.

Masks of Venice Palazzo Correr, Venice, Italy.

XIX Biennale of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt.

Earth Temple, Tollwood Arts Festival, Munich, Germany.

Breath, International Art Symposium, Chonju, South Korea.

Kultur-und Kongress Zentrum, Rosenheim, Germany.

Museum of Fine Art, Valletta, Malta.

1 9 9 7

International Art Addiction Galerie, Stockholm, Sweden.

Rabb Galerie, Neumarkt a.d. Raab, Burgenland, Austria.

Cathedral Museum, Mdina, Malta

1 9 9 6

Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta, Malta.

Galerie Lijst-in, The Hague, The Netherlands.

1 9 9 5

Institute of Visual Arts, Valletta, Malta

1 9 9 0

Maltafest, Museum of Archaeology, Valletta, Malta.

1 9 8 9

Lumley Cazalet, London, England.

Christies Contemporary Art, London, England.

1 9 8 8

Christies Contemporary Art, London, England.

1 9 8 7

Museum of Archaeology, Valletta, Malta.

1 9 8 6

Cathedral Museum, Mdina, Malta.

8th International Exhibition of Graphic Art,

Frechen, Germany.

Zella 9 Gallery, London, England.

Art Forum, Singapore.

1 9 8 5

Centre International D’Art Contemporain, Paris, France.

Christies Contemporary Art, Phoenicia Hotel,

Floriana, Malta.

12th World Youth Festival, Moscow, USSR.

1 9 8 4

Union Gallery, University of Massachusettes, Amherst, USA.

Galleria La Panca, Florence, Italy.

Hotel Bayerischer Hof, Munich, Germany.

Kurparkohlosschen, Herrsching, Germany.

Cultural Centre, Algiers, Algeria.

1 9 8 3

Expo Centre, Moscow, USSR.

Maltese Art Since 1940, Museum of Archaeology,

Valletta, Malta.

International Graphics II, Gallerija Fenici, Valletta, Malta.

Public Relations Centre, Los Angeles, USA.

Maltese Art Now, Museum of Archaeology, Valletta, Malta.

Gallery 345, New York, USA.

1 9 8 2

Maltese Graphics I, Gallerija Fenici, Valletta, Malta.

Galerie Monopol Reisen, Munich, Germany.

10 Contemporary Artists, Gallerija Fenici, Valletta, Malta.

1 9 8 1

Galerie le Nombre d’Or, Metz, France.

International Graphics I, Gallerija Fenici, Valletta, Malta.

Palazzo Municipale, Brindisi, Italy.

Maltese Landscape, Gallerija Fenici, Valletta, Malta.

1 9 8 0

Contemporary Maltese Art, Gallerija Fenici, Valletta, Malta.

Galerie des Lombards, Paris, France.

1 9 7 9

Galerie in der Adendakademis, Mannheim, Germany.

UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France.

Centro Culturale Mediterranea, Palermo, Sicily, Italy.

Salone delle Espositioni, Palermo, Sicily, Italy.

1 9 7 8

Galerie der Stadtsparkasse Recklinghausen, Germany.

Galerie Axiom, Cologne, Germany.

1 9 7 7

Galerie Galjeon, S’Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands.

Tempra Gallery, London, England.

Palazzo Sforzesco, Milan, Italy.

1 9 7 5

IV Biennal International de Arte, Ibiza, Spain.

S E L E C T E D P E R S O N A L E X H I B I T I O N S S E L E C T E D C O L L E C T I V E E X H I B I T I O N S

S E L E C T E D A W A R D S

2 0 0 2

Richard Carr, Festival Art reaches an Apex, Artwork,

July/August 2002, pp.5.

Richard Carr, Art and Architectrure of Norbert Francis Attard,

Studio International magazine, London, England, Sep. 2002.

Rosemary Strang, Interview with Norbert Attard,

Blinkred.com, October 2002.

2 0 0 1

Eva Jacob, Biennale-Kunstler in Liechtenstein, Vorarlberger

Nachrichten, February 16, 2001.

Joseph Paul Cassar, Art and Finance Video Project, Attard and Briffa in Liechtenstein, The Sunday Times, (Malta)

March 11, 2001.

Josanne Cassar, Taking art into another dimension, The

Malta Independent, March 10, 2001.

Emmanuel Fiorentino, Bed of Roses, The Sunday Times,

October 28,2001

2 0 0 0

Mario Cassar, Interview ma Norbert Attard, In-Nazzjon,

June 4, 2000.

1 9 9 9

Emmanuel Fiorentino, Norbert Attard’s grandiose viewof Preti, The Sunday Times (Malta), Jan. 24, 1999.

George Glanville, Mattia Preti: Ri-interpretazzjoniKontemporanja, Ghalik magazine, January 23, 1999.

Josanne Cassar, Transcending time and space, The Malta

Independent, July 8, 1999.

Adrian Bartolo, Destination, departure: The Venice ArtBiennale,The Sunday Times (Malta), July 11, 1999.

Malcolm J. Naudi, Malta connection in The ArtClub, The

Sunday Times (Malta), July 11, 1999.

Daniel Mercieca, Artist of the month, www.maltamag.com,

Malta’s on-line magazine, August 5, 1999.

Joseph Paul Cassar, Artist’s latest successes abroad, The

Sunday Times (Malta), December 26, 1999.

1 9 9 8

Anon.,Tollwood 98, Artworld magazine, South Korea,

August 1998.pp.174-177

Adrian Bartolo, The double frustration of painting, The

Sunday Times (Malta), November 15, 1998.

S E L E C T E D N E W S P A P E R S A N D M A G A Z I N E S

1 9 9 7

Norbert Ellul Vincenti, Norbert Attard, architect and painter,The Times (Malta), January 18, 1997.

Hanne Buschmann, Hier Farben, du Schatten, Rheinische

Post, January 21,1997.

Anon., Bocholter Borkener Volksblatt, January 1997.

Petra Herzog., Regen auf Malta fuhrte zur Kunst, NRZ,

Zeitung fur Wesel, January 30, 1997.

Emmanuel Fiorentino, It’s an Or for Norbert Attard, The

Sunday Times (Malta), April 27, 1997.

Doris Spiteri, Harsa lejn Norbert Attard – l-artist, il-perit uaktar...,In-Nazzjon, May 2, 1997.

George Glanville, Norbert Attard, bidla radikali fl-istil, Ghalik

magazin, May 3, 1997.

Ulla Dretzler, Sudlich von Sizilien: der Maler Norbert Attard,

Das Italien-Kulturmagazin, 1997

1 9 9 6

Emmanuel Fiorentino, Norbert Attard, Vintage 96, Sunday

Times (Malta), March 31, 1996.

Daphne Caruana Galizia, Living among the colours of Paradise, High Flyer magazine, April 1996.

Raphael Vella, In search of quality, The Malta Independent,

March 31, 1996.

Rose Lapira, Opening the infinite doors of life, Guest

magazine, Spring issue, 1996.

Dominic Cutajar, Norbert Attard, The aestheticics of pureform, First Sunday magazine, March 1996.

Lara Strickland, Paintings 96, The Times (Malta), April 3, 1996.

Theresa Vella, The other side, The Sunday Times (Malta),

October 20, 1996.

Emmanuel Fiorentino, Shifting Images of Luminosity, The

Sunday Times (Malta), October 27, 1996

George Cini, All in a day, Sunday Circle magazine, 1996

L.J.S. Three books on Norbert Attard, Sunday Times (Malta)

December 22, 1996

Anon., Barometer des Zeitgeistes, Kunst Aktuell magazin, 1996.

1 9 9 5

Emmanuel Fiorentino, Norbert Attard in Strasbourg, The

Sunday Times (Malta), April 23, 1995.

1 9 9 4

Emmanuel Fiorentino, Exhibition with an extra appeal,Sunday Times (Malta), May 29, 1994.

Raphael Vella, Norbert Attard: artist chameleon, The

Independent, June 5, 1994.

Pamela Hanson, Symphony in acrylics, Sunday Times

(Malta), May 22, 1994.

Raphael Vella, Artist and Architect, Property Update

Magazine, 1994.

1 9 9 2

Emmanuel Fiorentino, Norbert Attard at Gallerija Gaulos,

Sunday Times (Malta), July 26, 1992.

Dominic Cutajar, An artist and an architect, Inflight

magazine, July 1992.

1 9 9 1

Kenneth Wain, Maltafest: The state of Maltese Art, The

Times (Malta), August 3, 1991.

1 9 8 6

Anne Musgrave, Norbert Attard, Studio magazine, Sydney,

Australia, 1986.

Mark Chipperfield, Nothing is the matter truthfully, The

Australian, April 16, 1986.

Ian Findlay, Norbert Attard, The Times,,Hong Kong, 1986.

1 9 8 5

Dennis Vella, The graphics of Norbert Attard, Elegance

magazine, 1985

Meir Ronnen, From Malta to Antibes, Jerusalem Post, 1985.

1 9 8 4

Peter Serracino Inglott, Graphics of Norbert Attard, 1984.

Emmanuel Fiorentino, Retrospectively lithographic, The

Sunday Times (Malta), Jan.1, 1984.

Dominic Cutajar, A multi-faceted Personality, The Times

(Malta), January 10, 1984.

1 9 8 3

Dominic Cutajar, 2nd Exhibition of International graphics atGallerija Fenici, The Times (Malta), May 24, 1983.

Rose Lapira, The Art of Attard, Weekend Chronicle,

December 31, 1983.

S E L E C T E D B O O K S A N D C A T A L O G U E S

1 9 9 9

Citta di Firenze Prize, 2nd Biennale di Firenze, Florence, Italy.

1 9 9 8

Diploma of Excellence, Masks in Venice, Palazzo Correr,

Venice, Italy, 1998.

1 9 9 7

1st Prize, Gold Medal, Most Talented Artists, Art

Addiction International Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden.

1 9 8 3

1st Prize in the annual Vote a Stamp referendum, organised

by the Malta Philathelic Society.

1 9 8 1

2nd Prize, Concorso Internazionale d’Arte, Marco Pacuvio,

Brindisi, Italy.

1 9 7 7

Primo Premio di Ricordo, Concorso Internazionale d’Arte,

Palazzo Sforzesco, Milano, Italy.

1 9 7 2 1 9 7 4 1 9 7 5

1st Prize, Malta International Trade Fair Poster Competition,

Naxxar, Malta

1 9 6 8

2nd Prize for Painting, Malta Society of Arts, Valletta, Malta.

1 9 6 7

Third Prize for Poster, Malta Society of Arts, Valletta, Malta.

1 9 6 6

1st Prize, Commonwealth Countries Art Competition,

Commonwealth Institute London, England.

1st Prize (together with Marco Cremona), Bank of Alderney

Art Competition, Valletta, Malta

2 0 0 2

Raphael Vella, Cityspaces, Exhibition catalogue, published

by YMCA, Valletta, Malta, pp.10-11

2 0 0 2

Joseph Paul Cassar, Art in Malta Today. Exhibition catalogue,

St James Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta. pp.33.

1 9 9 9

Adrian Bartolo, Malta: Norbert Francis Attard, Vince Briffa,Ray Pitre, Venice Biennale catalogue, 1999. pp.110–112

1 9 9 6

Edited by Dennis Vella, foreword by Kenneth Wain, NorbertAttard, Prints and Paintings, 1977–1996. Book Published by

Roemer-und Pelizaeus Museum, Hildesheim, Germany,

including selected published writings by Dennis Vella, Meir

Ronnen, Dominic Cutajar, Anne Musgrave, Richard England,

Peter Serracino Inglott, Raphael Vella, Emmanuel Fiorentino,

Rose Lapira and Theresa Vella.

Kenneth Wain, foreword by Victor Pasmore, Norbert Attard,an Invitation to... book published by the Foundation for

International Studies, Valletta, Malta,

1 9 9 4

Joe Friggieri, Continuity and renewal, Exhibition catalogue,

Wands, Valletta, May 5,

1 9 9 2

Peter Serracino Inglott, Norbert Attard, Paintings, Exhibition

catalogue, published by Galleria Gaulos, Gozo, Malta.

1991

Emmanuel Fiorentino, Four Maltese Artists: Norbert Attard,Pawl Carbonaro, Marco Cremona, Luciano Micallef,Maltafest exhibition catalogue, pp.2-5

1 9 8 8

Nicholas De Piro, The international dictionary of artists whopainted Malta, book published by Said International Ltd.,

Valletta, Malta.

1 9 8 6

Richard England, Norbert Attard, lithographs and silkscreenprints, Exhibition catalogue published by The National

Museum, Valletta, Malta and the National Museums of

Canada (Ottawa),

Richard England, Norbert Attard, an artist in transition,

Exhibition catalogue, Bridge Street Gallery, Sydney, Australia.

Richard England, Norbert Attard, Exhibition catalogue,

Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta.

1 9 8 5

Dennis Vella, The graphics of Norbert Attard, Exhibition

catalogue, Bankstown Town Hall, Sydney, Australia.

Adrian Stivala, Contemporary Maltese Artists, book

published North Star Publications, Malta.

1 9 8 3

Dominic Cutajar, Foreword by Richard England, NorbertAttard, Artist in Malta, 1977–1983, book published by

Edizioni Galleria De Amicis, Florence, Italy.

1 9 8 2

Dominic Cutajar, Appraising Maltese graphic art in Malta,

exhibition catalogue, Maltese graphics I, Galerija Fenici,

Valletta, Malta.

1 9 8 0

England Richard, This is Malta: Images in Art, published by

Mid-Med Bank, Valletta, Malta.

Dieter Lohl, Der Maler der Mauren von Malta, Exhibition

catalogue, ‘’Walls of Malta’’, Meistersuite Europaischer, Graphik.

Richard England, Norbert Attard, The Graphics of Feng-Shui(1979), Uncaged Reflections, Book published in 1980.

Joh. Jansen, Over Malta en Attard, exhibition catalogue,

Philips Ontspannings Centrum, Eindhoven, Holland.

1 9 7 9

Richard England, Norbert Attard, exhibition catalogue,

Graphiksammlung Dieter Lohl, Unna, Germany.

Dieter Lohl, Norbert Attard, Galerie Sohle 1, Germany.

1 9 7 8

While the heart watches, limited edition handmade box, 12

poems by Michael Zammit and 3 prints by Norbert Attard.

L I M I T E D E D I T I O N P R I N T S

12 Giclee Limited Edition Prints, one image per installation, signed and numbered by the artist, have been published in two formats A1 and A5.

Contact BLINK RED or visit their web site www.blinkred.com.

B L I N K R E D

Catchpell House, Carpet Lane, Bernard Street, Edinburgh EH6 6SP, Scotland

Tel: 0131 467 7995 Fax: 0131 467 0099 E.mail: rose.strang@ecs-labs.com, kirsty.mcdougall@ecs-labs.com