ANTOINE FARRUGIA

 

Born: 22 July 1969

Nationality: Maltese

 

Formal Arts Education: 

Diploma, School of Arts, Valletta

 

Farrugia started as a self-taught artist who later on started training under the tutorship of Anton Grech.  His preferred media is sculpture and the subject that interests him most is the human abstract form.  He is mainly influenced by the love of the medium and the symbolic energy he derives from it to vent his deepest feelings.

 

 

THE SELFIE

 

THIS IS ME

Gesso

2013

W50 cm x H50 cm

 

 

“THIS IS ME" is the name of my piece, which I was challenged to create for this exhibition.
Honestly, at first I felt very lost because this is totally outside my comfort zone and I never imagined that I would be asked to create my own self-portrait. However, I accepted the challenge and started focusing on the idea and that I want to portray myself as an artist TODAY – ME and who am I as an artist (sculptor). Today I feel that I live in a country where the governing entities, authorities etc., are prostituting the existing art to the limits but not investing in up and coming artists. Art education is very poor and limited and at times, Art is
being downgraded to the level of crafts – to a level of quick adapting. My SELFIE is representing this view of poor investment that is reflected in the use of simple gesso and a broken pair of glasses.