Category: Exhibition

Solo Exhibition at The Phoenicia Malta, August 2023

‘A vibrant collection of recent paintings by Rune Bo Jakobsen (b. 1975) are gracing the bright Palm Court Lounge at The Phoenicia Malta
throughout the month of August.

Titled ‘Green City: from Floriana to Mdina’, the paintings portray land and streetscapes that aim to draw attention to the available greenery of the Maltese islands, which is sadly being lost due to indiscriminate construction.

Jakobsen’s art is about giving hope and inspiring us to improve the potential of our environment and society. In doing so his paintings portray spaces with emotion, capturing dappled light and reimagining a soft regenerative ambience.

At times the paintings also include the people who inhabit and experience beauty in the spaces.
The painting titled Arcade Ensemble starts as a conversing group of friends clustered together in the Arcades of St Anne’s Street, Floriana.

The theatrical space is illuminated in a green light from beyond and from canvas to canvas the scenographic composition is abstracted into a dreamy space that could be future or past.
In a subliminal way Jakobsen states the exhibition conveys an important urgent message: ‘We can choose to make Malta green’.

…



In this solo exhibition, recognisable landmarks such as Robert Sammut Hall are evident, as well as the iconic city of Mdina perched on the hilltop portrayed at different times of day and viewpoints.

Other elements are the distinguishing dominating church steeples, Maltese timber balconies, boats in the harbour and precipitous fortifications, all bathed in the warm Mediterranean light as seen throughout the year and changing seasons.

Jakobsen is here proving his ability to see colour in any object, and colour is a distinguishing element of his paintings. This is testament
to his power of observation and maturity in the
use of a broad palette. Colour is seen through the light as well as in the shade and shadows that is cast on and by limestone buildings
and trees that play an equally important role.
Executed with broad brushstrokes and bold, block colours, this is where Jakobsen’s emotions shine through even in the everchanging
Mediterranean skies.

Some of these paintings that were executed en plein air as well as in the artist’s Birkirkara studio, also display drawings that show through the painted layers or which were added to finish off the composition, creating more definition.

Also significant to this exhibition is a 2.8m high sculpture titled Green Heart’ which is exhibited in the lush gardens of The Phoenicia Malta, an ideal location for this artist’s silent commentary. …’

Presenting:  An exploration of Light through the Clouds of Malta

This weekend we opened my solo exhibition at Art..e Gallery on Malta’s beautiful sister Island: Gozo

It was a fun event with guests from a few months of age to +98years(!) spilling out on to the quaint Library Street of the historical town of Victoria.

The exhibition will extend until 7th July. Everyone is welcome.

Over the years I have noticed it can be a feat preparing and taking the 30minute journey ‘over seas’ from Malta to Gozo; yet always rewarding!

Crossing the channel by ferry and passing thru the valley to Victoria the tranquility immediately hits me and I say,  ‘Imagine Malta once used to be like this’.

One travels to Gozo maybe a few times a year on a weekend break to experience Nature and tranquility – but is it not possible to connect our everyday lives with nature?

Could we contain our buildings like the Citadel leaving space for children to run and explore in the fields?

Could the wide roads leave space for bicycle paths in the countryside?

Could our daily lives rely less on commuting by car and instead we could stroll through the meandering townscapes?

‘Gozo: Architecture of a flower’ seeks to open our eyes to the beauty of Nature big and small; a Nature which with the rapid development and urban sprawl is becoming more and more rare in Malta – and now also affected in Gozo.

This exhibition has been an exploration, seeing the beauty of Gozo: with it’s golden cliffs, green valleys, purple skies and how a few serene townscapes still co-exist in harmony with the surrounding landscape. From the magnificent cliffs to the delicate flower perched on it, the Nature of Gozo has inspired me.

Over the past year I have explored and experimented; learning from the landscape and studying the folds of ‘Fungus Rock’ cliff faces to the folds of a flower. I also discovered a transparent cloth-like material, which is used in Malta to sift gunpowder for fireworks.  Folding this shiny brass netting and in architectural terms translating the geometry of the intricate ‘Snap Dragon’ flower into a series of origami-like sculptures. Like my 2013 concrete ‘Popcorn’ series these have a soft, approachable aspect whilst embodying stages of growth albeit being rooted and perched in harsh limestone surroundings.

In my Gozo paintings the focus is also on folds: outlining the edges whilst unveiling the colours in the shadows of the Gozitan landscapes and townscapes.

Finally, a new route has also begun to emerge in the latest pieces: creasing composition paths diagonally across the canvas joining the sky with the landscape.  In paintings with seascapes these paths are becoming shimmering constellations of light.

Rune Bo Jakobsen , Valletta, June 2018

At the new Art Studio & Gallery Opening in May 2017:

Above: “Voyager I’ Light Sculpture & Mediterranean Clouds

Centre:  Valletta Backlit & Valletta Street Scapes

Below:  ‘In Blue -Waterfall’, ‘Phenomena, Rain Cloud’ & ‘In Red- Glow’

Contact RBJ for Studio Viewings.