We are over-saturated with depictions of nudity in visual art; nonetheless it still intrigues most of us whilst causing discomfort to others. Gallerist Nicole Parnis discusses NUD. A NAKED COLLECTIVE – currently on exhibit at DESKO Art Gallery until the 7th of December.

Eve Cocks: ‘NUD. A Naked Collective’ is the first group show exhibited at DESKO Art Gallery.

Nicole Parnis: DESKO was born out of the idea for freelancers in creative fields to be able to have a workspace (or a desk, hence the name) in the Capital City, where they can interact and bounce off ideas between themselves. It was always my intention to have a rotation of artworks on the walls, but following the success of our first exhibition – ‘VESSELS’ by ceramicist Hannah Galea and Matthew Micallef – the focus turned further towards it becoming more of an exhibition space than a shared office, which I happily adapted to. Soon afterwards, we held our first vintage pop-up shop over a weekend, which coincided with a Pop Art exhibition by graphic-collage artist Jana Frost. This jump between a 3D sculpture show to an affordable print show set the tone for a gallery space which has no set rules.

NUD. is our first collective and first typically “Fine Art” show under the name DESKO. In the past, when the space was run by my mother as Studio 104, a show called ‘SELFIE’, a self portrait exhibition featuring works by names such as Debbie Caruana Dingli and Darren Tanti garnered similar attention in the arts scene in Malta. This time around, I chose to include younger, established and also emerging artists. My aim is to continue on the vein of surprise, and to keep the space popular, dynamic, accessible and affordable.

Ryan Falzon
Rope Play
Acetone C Print on Paper
Edition of 25
2018

EC: Elements of vulnerability, transgression and ambiguity feature throughout the exhibition. Can you briefly describe the work of each artist?

The artworks in NUD. are seen from different vantage points. I wanted to showcase the comfortable contrasted with the raw. On entering the exhibition you come face to face with Charles Balzan’s work – no holds barred, clear and graphic photographs depicting the realities of the naked human body. They explore true nakedness, rather than nudity. Sweat, bones, fat and hair are all laid bare, resulting in images not normally seen in a gallery space, especially locally. However, they are far from explicit, which is a theme explored within the works of Gabriel Buttigieg and Ryan Falzon, the ‘enfants terribles’ of the current art scene in Malta, if you will. Buttigieg’s inks, almost storyboard like drawings from his series ‘Dik Il-Qtajra’ are the most “obscene” in the show, being the only works to depict various sexual acts carried out in a simplistic, sketchy style. Graphic as they are, possibly causing unease to some, they seem to depict subjects that are totally comfortable with their own naked bodies and themselves as humans, as sexual beings. They celebrate sexuality, and there’s a sense of feeling that you’re getting a look in to a couple’s private, undressed moments. Being so different from his own large scale paintings exhibited of late locally and internationally, as gallery owner, I am proud to have been able to showcase them. Falzon’s work touches on the pornographic, albeit in a more tongue-in-cheek way. His work as a colourist shines through his graffiti like scribbles over acetone print collages from “dirty magazines”. He plays on the media representation of the female form in his works for NUD; from the focus on “girl-on-girl” to spread-eagled beauties from vintage editorials.

Sarah Chircop’s work is the sole exploration of self within the exhibition. It is questioning, curious and ambiguous. Through the use of her chosen medium, she explores the relation between absence and presence, using her own body yet she masquerades it by the use of mirrors to the point of distortion, only recognizable by the arch of a back or the bend of a knee. It is beautiful, ambiguous. It poses the question – are these cathartic shots for the artist herself? For someone else? Kris Micallef’s photographs exhibited in NUD. were crucial to me within the early stages of curating the show. I certainly had to have a depiction of the “Adonis-like” nude model from a male gaze. Without any element of tokenism, it was important for me to show these celestial, god-like bodies through the lens of a photographer so highly regarded through his ability to capture the male form at its most beautiful. Lastly, Jeni Caruana’s work soothes the audience with reclining life model nudes that almost serve as a relief for the element of surprise. They’re comforting, painterly, academic and unanimously acceptable, even for the prudest visitor. They provide a sense of much-needed calm to what could have been an exhibition that was solely intended to shock – which is something I was not intending. They are grounding and, in my opinion, a fundamental part of the show. What is an exhibition of nude without a life model showcase from the sensitive female gaze?

Gabriel Buttigieg
‘Dik il-Qtajra’ series (ongoing)
14 x 14cm
Ink on Paper
2016

EC: Why did you decide upon a collective to tackle this theme? Was it to exhibit the versatility of the subject?

NP: The artists I had in mind have caught my eye over the course of the past couple of years. All the works on show had been created prior to my invitation for them to be part of the collective, and I had been following their styles and seen them transition. I was aware that all the artists that formed part of the exhibition have tackled the subject of nudity before. Being a small gallery, I have the luxury of whipping up a show in minimal time without many obstacles to hold me back. I have a short-term exhibition calendar that can be chopped and changed, and the ability to make decisions quickly. NUD. came about through a few simple factors. One of them was, as mentioned in the question, to exhibit the versatility of the subject. Everybody has seen a naked body and everyone owns a naked body. How it is depicted, by artists, intrigues me. I also wanted to surprise the audience and really just to test their boundaries and my own, as a gallerist. To see what I can get away with. I knew that I wanted to have both ends of the spectrum of nudes on show, which is why I went from one extreme to the other in the case of Jeni Caruana’s painterly, life model nudes to the raw, primal and “explicit” photographic life model nudes by Charles Balzan. The mishmash of styles and mediums was very important to me, as someone who identifies with having very eclectic taste. Furthermore, I was happy to represent the artists exhibited within a group show, believing that they are a strong representation of the arts scene in Malta at the time of the show. I believe that if one were to take a snapshot of what was going on in Malta 2019 in the arts scene, you would get a pretty good idea who our contemporaries are.

NUD. A NAKED COLLECTIVE is being held at DESKO Art Gallery, Valletta, until the 7th of December 2019. Find out more here https://www.facebook.com/deskomalta/

Charles Balzan
Detail from ‘D’
Fine Art Photographic Print
20 x 20″
May 2017

FEATURED IMAGE:
Sarah Chircop, From the ThereNotThere series, Fine Art Photography Print, 15 x 20″ (Artist Proof), September 2019.