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Isabelle Borg

ART BIOGRAPHY

Isabelle Borg has lived in London (her birthplace, 1959) and Malta, as well as spending periods in Berlin, and West Cork, Ireland. She studied painting at the Camberwell School of Art, London, graduating BA (Hons) in 1986. Since gaining an MA (History of Art) in 1994, she teaches art full-time at the University of Malta.

Since 1985, she has regularly held solo exhibitions of her paintings, and often been asked to participate in group shows. Her work is found in a number of public and private collections. Working from her studio in Floriana, Malta, she continues to exhibit locally and internationally, and to publish her research in art.

Early solo landscape exhibitions Marine and Maritime Paintings (1991) and Bastions and Harbours (1992) concentrated on Malta's constructed coastline. Later, Two Islands (2004, with photographer Graham Cooper) and Maltese Landscape (2006) were inspired by natural scenery and atmospheric conditions. Much of this change has come from time spent painting Irish landscape since 2000, whilst based in Clonakilty, West Cork. Most recent exhibition Strange Cargo (National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta, 2008) explores the effect of this series of journeys and homecomings, and re-defines an earlier interest in figurative art.

Education

1982-1986
Foundation and BA (Hons) Fine Art (Painting); Camberwell School of Art, London, UK

1994
MA Art (Hist.) University of Malta

Collections

National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta
Gallery 77, New Bond Street, London
Woburn Fine Arts, UK
Demarco European Art Foundation, Edinburgh, Scotland
Melitensia Art Gallery, Malta
National Contemporary Art Collection of Malta, Malta
Ministry for Youth and the Arts, Malta
Ministry for Agriculture, Malta
Central Bank of Malta, Malta
Bank of Valletta, Malta
HSBC Malta, Malta
Malta International Airport, Malta
Various private collections both in Malta and abroad.

Design Jobs

1979-1980
Graphic Designer and Typographer: Decca Record Company Ltd, London, UK

Design projects

1995
Set design for Assemblywomen by Aristophanes, directed by Joe Friggieri, University of Malta Open Air Theatre

1997
Book design and images for Mitt Hajku, poems by Joe Friggieri

1998
Set of four postage stamps commissioned by Posta (Malta) for UNESCOYear of the Ocean

Teaching Experience and Employment

1994 and 1996
Director of Painting and Drawing Landscape in Malta, summer school of the University of Malta at the Foundation for International Studies, Valletta

Since 1994
University of Malta: Full-time appointment ( Assistant Lecturer) in Fine Art and History of Art

Publications

1996
"Image, Metaphor, Vision" (section on Creativity and the Arts); Creative Thinking: New Perspectives; ed. Sandra Dingli; University of Malta, 1996

1996
"Definitive Images: the role of women in Malta seen through the people's art Woman in Maltese Art c1600 -1995; ed. Dennis Vella; Ministry for Social Development, 1996

1997
"Painting a realistic picture: Art in Malta today"; Beyond Schooling: Adult Education in Malta; ed. Godfrey Baldacchino and Peter Mayo; Mireva Publications, Malta 1997

1998
"The Martyrdom of St. Ursula and her Companions by Mattia Preti"; Treasures of Malta (Easter Issue); ed. Chev. John Manduca; Fondazzjjoni Patrimonju Malti, Malta 1998

2001
Chapter: "The Iconography of Evil in Maltese Art"; Powers of Good and Evil: Social Transformation and Popular Belief; ed. Paul Clough and Jon P. Mitchell; Berghahn Books 2001, New York

2004
The Maritime Ex-voto - a culture of thanksgiving in Malta ;Heritage Books 2004

2008
Chapter together with Paul Clough: "Society in the Body and the Body of Society"; Cross-Currents; ed. Raphael Vella, Allied Publications, 2008

Bibliography

The Dictionary of Artists who painted Malta; Nicholas de Piro; AVC Publishers; editions No.I (1988) and No.II (2002)

The Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education , Vol. 13 (No.1), May 1999; Chapter covered in article by Jindra Kulich; "Painting a realistic picture: Art in Malta today" (see Publications)

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© 2010 Isabelle Borg - All rights reserved

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