Beyond the Visible: The Metaphysical Worlds of Olaug Vethal
It's not every show where you want to take the art home with you. Not just the odd piece, but the whole lot. Spazju Kreattiv you have been warned!
In brief
It's not every show where you want to take the art home with you. Not just the odd piece, but the whole lot. Spazju Kreattiv you have been warned!
Beyond the Visible: The Metaphysical Worlds of Olaug Vethal is a lively and memorable tribute to an artist who made Malta both her home and her greatest source of inspiration. The exhibition gathers paintings that move confidently between everyday Maltese life and music, and more private, spiritual territory. It is a show that rewards soaking up the art, not only for its subject matter but for the sheer physical pleasure of Vethal's paint.
In detail
The exhibition's background is rooted in Vethal's long relationship with Malta. Born in Norway in 1946, she studied in Oslo and Hamburg before settling here in 1988. She taught art at De La Salle College and became a significant presence in the local art scene. She is known for her expressive brushwork and energetic figures, and for her ability to turn ordinary moments into scenes charged with feeling. She died in 2007, leaving behind a substantial body of work that continues to feel immediate and alive.
The display is organised as a journey through several interconnected themes. Early on, visitors encounter Malta itself: harbours, boats, villages, bathers and coastal views rendered with a warmth that avoids postcard sentimentality. Vethal's Malta is not merely picturesque; it is inhabited, noisy and full of movement.
Her paintings of musicians and dancers are especially compelling, translating rhythm into colour, gesture and swirling marks that make you almost feel you are at the Malta Jazz Festival. The influence of her early fascination with jazz is clear, yet the works never feel like simple illustrations of performance.
Other sections explore Malta's deeper past and its metaphysical possibilities. References to the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum sit alongside self-portraits, meditations on mortality and visual exchanges with artists such as Utagawa Kunisada, Kitagawa Utamaro and above all Caravaggio.
Take 'After the Body' which enters into a dialogue with Caravaggio's Narcissus, and Martha and Mary. These works broaden the exhibition's scope, showing an artist who was curious about art history, spirituality and the boundaries between the seen and unseen.
The ukiyo-e inspired works draw on the visual language of Japanese art, particularly Utagawa Kuniyoshi's richly patterned figures and multi-layered compositions. Birds move freely across boundaries, while figures and fragments appear suspended between the observed, remembered and imagined.
The portrait series enters into dialogue with the bijin-ga tradition of Kitagawa Utamaro, exploring interiority through expressive colour and the physical movement of paint. The women's faces emerge from vivid fields of orange, green and black, while the boundaries between figure and surrounding space remain fluid and unresolved.
The final impression is of a painter who used figuration not as a limitation but as a doorway into imagination.
What makes the exhibition particularly enjoyable is its colour. Vethal's palette is bold and saturated: sea blues, sunlit yellows, warm oranges, deep reds and unexpected greens collide across the walls. Her brushwork gives these colours a tactile energy, so the paintings seem to pulse rather than simply hang. Was this her joyful reaction to the bright light and sense of fiesta she found here in Malta, perhaps a sharp contrast to her native Norway?
The lighting throughout 'Space A' is excellent, carefully balanced to reveal the texture of the paint without washing out the darker, more contemplative pieces. It allows each work to hold its own atmosphere while contributing to the overall rhythm of the show.
Beyond the Visible is open Tuesday to Friday from 9am to 9pm, and Saturday to Sunday from 10am to 9pm. Admission is well worth the visit for anyone interested in Maltese art, expressive painting or an artist whose work continues to celebrate movement, colour and the mysteries beneath ordinary life.
