Isabelle Borg 1959-2010
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The Streak Publication, 2021Isabelle Borg, The Streak Publication, 202120.00 -
Broad Haven, 2003
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Simon’s Cove, 2001
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Raining over Brandon Bay, 2000
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The Sea Is A Desert, 1996
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Gozo I, 1990
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Berlin X, 1985
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Berlin I – Station, 1985Isabelle Borg, Berlin I – Station, 19852,000.00
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Berlin IX, 1985
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Harbour I
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Harbour II
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MiddleIsabelle Borg, Middle1,100.00
Isabelle Borg was born in London in 1959 to a Maltese father and Italian mother. She lived in london and in Malta, as well as spending periods in Berlin, and West Cork, Ireland.
In 1986, at the age of 27, Isabelle Borg graduated in Fine Arts from the London Camberwell School of Art. Before settling down in Malta in 1988, she spent some time in Germany. Living in West Berlin changed her perspectives, bringing her into contact with the current developments of the time including the budding Neo Expressionist and Transavanguardia movements. Most works by the artist dating to this period are executed in ink on East German toilet paper which often come across as drab and austere.
From 1985, she regularly held solo exhibitions of her paintings locally and internationally, and has often been asked to participate in group shows. Her work is found in a number of public and private collections. She set up the Moviment Mara Maltija (Maltese Women's Movement) in the late 1980s.
Borg died in 2010, having suffered from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. She spent the final years of her life working from her home andstudio in Floriana.
Exhibitions
2008 - Strange Cargo - Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta
2006 - Maltese Landscape - Din L-Art Helwa, Melita Street, Valletta, Malta
2005 - BUPA - Corporate Exhibition - Malta
2004 - Ode an de Hofvijver - On accession to the EU, Isabelle Borg representing Malta at the Hague, Holland
2004 - Two Islands - Version Two - St. James Cavalier, National Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta
2002 - Paintings of the Last Eighteen Years: - Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta
2002 - Two Islands - Version One - The Bank of Ireland Arts Centre, Dublin, Ireland
2001 - Sol - St. James Cavalier, National Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta
1999 - Paintings - Grey College, University of Durham, UK
1998 - Portraits and other people - Grey College, University of Durham, UK
1997 - Mitt Hajku - Paintings for book of poems by Joe Friggieri . Ciappetti Tea Rooms and Art Gallery, Mdina, Malta
1996 - Blaue Stunde - University of Augsburg, Germany
1995 - Inscapes - Temi Zammit Hall, University of Malta, Malta
1994 - Paintings - Melitensia Art Gallery, Lija, Malta
1993 - Landscapes - Malta International Arts Festival
1992 - Bastions & Harbours - Trattoria da Pippo, Valletta, Malta
1992 - Austellung - Old University of Heidelberg, Germany
1991 - Marine & Maritime Paintings - The Royal Malta Yacht Club, Malta
1991 - 1 Landscape - 2 Visions - With Ebba von Fersen, Museum of Fine Arts, Malta
1989 - Portraits - National Museum of Archaeology, Valletta, Malta
1987 - Paintings - Café Gallery, Lewisham, London, UK
1986 - Degree Show - Camberwell School of Art, London, UK
1985 - Paintings - National Museum of Archaeology, Valletta, Malta
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OFFICIAL LAUNCH MARIE GALLERY 5 TIGNE
Marie Gallery 5 27 Jan - 25 Mar 2023On the occasion of the launch of this new space, we wanted to celebrate who we are as a gallery and our diverse outreach plan. The varied selection of artists...Read more -
The Summer Showcase
at Bureau Iniala 3 Aug - 18 Sep 2022A curated selection of works by established and emerging local artists have been brought together for this first edition of the summer showcase. Marie Gallery5, together with Bureau Iniala, will...Read more -
THE STREAK
An Isabelle Borg Retrospective 17 Dec 2021 - 16 Jan 2022Born in 1959, Isabelle lived in London and Malta, as well as spending periods in Berlin, and West Cork, Ireland. Her first debut in the local art scene was in 1985 with the exhibition Paintings, at Valletta’s Archaeology Museum. Since then she had regularly held solo exhibitions of her, and participated in collectives both on a local and international level. Her works are found amongst numerous public and private collections. This is the largest retrospective ever organised since her passing in 2010, showing some of her most renowned works.Read more
Her ‘Lovers’, take centre stage in this retrospective – and although Isabelle’s life and work has purposely not been chronologically displayed and curated, her artistic output was clearly encapsulated within a series of thematic ‘phases’. The primitive and the abstract phases succeed one another in this exhibition, with works often overlapping in style and chromatic palette. Especially distinctive are the purely abstract works from the SOL series, which is marked by incredibly bold choices of colour, strong line and shape.
This much is also true of Isabelle’s figurative works and portraits. She painted herself on numerous occasions; and mapping out her self-portraits, also maps out her journey and trajectory: from one of her very first portraits of herself in a suitcase (1986), encased within a bold red oval on a golden ground, to wispy and somewhat spirit-like figure as portrayed in Nimby (2008). She attached a piece of herself to each of her sitters; she looked at them, she saw them, yet she also saw the self reflected back at her. Which is possibly why her portraits, despite being a series of strangers whom we may never meet, possess a strange air of familiarity, which is at times, transfixing.
Isabelle’s diverse works all come together through her colours and strong brush strokes, reflecting who she was; bold, passionate and tenacious. This retrospective is much more than a cross section of works punctuating and highlighting Isabelle’s life and career. It is an attempt to preserve her memory and sustain her legacy; it is an homage to the life and work of a brilliant woman and artist. -
Isabelle Borg Collection
Isabelle Borg 10 - 19 May 2018Marie Gallery 5 in partnership with Iniala5 Galleries - Valletta will be showing an exhibition ,Isabelle Borg collection featuring Isabelle Borg's work.Read more
-
OFFICIAL LAUNCH MARIE GALLERY 5 TIGNE
Marie Gallery 5 27 Jan - 25 Mar 2023On the occasion of the launch of this new space, we wanted to celebrate who we are as a gallery and our diverse outreach plan....Read more -
The Summer Showcase
at Bureau Iniala 3 Aug - 18 Sep 2022A curated selection of works by established and emerging local artists have been brought together for this first edition of the summer showcase. Marie Gallery5,...Read more -
THE STREAK
An Isabelle Borg Retrospective 17 Dec 2021 - 16 Jan 2022Born in 1959, Isabelle lived in London and Malta, as well as spending periods in Berlin, and West Cork, Ireland. Her first debut in the local art scene was in 1985 with the exhibition Paintings, at Valletta’s Archaeology Museum. Since then she had regularly held solo exhibitions of her, and participated in collectives both on a local and international level. Her works are found amongst numerous public and private collections. This is the largest retrospective ever organised since her passing in 2010, showing some of her most renowned works. Her ‘Lovers’, take centre stage in this retrospective – and although Isabelle’s life and work has purposely not been chronologically displayed and curated, her artistic output was clearly encapsulated within a series of thematic ‘phases’. The primitive and the abstract phases succeed one another in this exhibition, with works often overlapping in style and chromatic palette. Especially distinctive are the purely abstract works from the SOL series, which is marked by incredibly bold choices of colour, strong line and shape. This much is also true of Isabelle’s figurative works and portraits. She painted herself on numerous occasions; and mapping out her self-portraits, also maps out her journey and trajectory: from one of her very first portraits of herself in a suitcase (1986), encased within a bold red oval on a golden ground, to wispy and somewhat spirit-like figure as portrayed in Nimby (2008). She attached a piece of herself to each of her sitters; she looked at them, she saw them, yet she also saw the self reflected back at her. Which is possibly why her portraits, despite being a series of strangers whom we may never meet, possess a strange air of familiarity, which is at times, transfixing. Isabelle’s diverse works all come together through her colours and strong brush strokes, reflecting who she was; bold, passionate and tenacious. This retrospective is much more than a cross section of works punctuating and highlighting Isabelle’s life and career. It is an attempt to preserve her memory and sustain her legacy; it is an homage to the life and work of a brilliant woman and artist.Read more -
Isabelle Borg Collection
Isabelle Borg 10 - 19 May 2018Marie Gallery 5 in partnership with Iniala5 Galleries - Valletta will be showing an exhibition ,Isabelle Borg collection featuring Isabelle Borg's work.Read more