Victor Agius

Born in 1982 in Gozo Malta, Victor Agius as a child became acquainted with sculptural work thanks to his father Mario Agius who is a sculptor. After graduating from the University of Malta’s Fine Art Department (2004), he furthered his studies abroad: first in 2009 at the International School of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture in Perugia (Italy), then in 2011 at the Central Saint Martin’s College for Art and Design in London (UK). So far, his works have been shown at various artistic venues in Malta, among which the National Museum of Fine Arts and St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in Valletta, but also at many public places of cultural significance such as the Neolithic temples complex Ġgantija a UNESCO World Heritage site and the Mdina Cathedral.
He has also participated in numerous international exhibitions: the Spazio Pastificio Cerere in Rome (2012), Galleria SanEufemia in Venice (2011), the Arte Padova Fair in Padova (2011), the Long Room Gallery at Oxford University (2010), the International Biennale of Contemporary Art in Florence (2009) and the Museum of Modern Art in Santo Domingo (2006). As an emerging talent from Malta he was selected to represent his country in the 2014 European Ceramic Context in Bornholm (Denmark). Recently his proposal for Public Art in Malta named Ħaġarna was selected in a national competition.

His practice consists of performance, installation, sculpture and painting. At its core, it concerns his work with formless matter. Agius examines the formless matter proper to his own experience of the environment –either randomly or carefully selected sites with their distinctive ecological and archeological features– which all finds its roots in the earth or soil-derived organic materials (raw clay, for instance, beside natural pigments, oils and acrylics). This has allowed him to produce a body of work through which to reflect upon the subject of human existence in general and the limits of his own existence in particular.

Solo Exhibitions and collaborative projects

2018 TERRAE, exhibition and performance at Iniala Gallery, Valletta-Malta

2017 CONSUME, multidisciplinary project curated by Dr Irene Biolchini at Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta-Malta.

2016 LAYERS, interdisciplinary project with composer Dr Mariella Cassar Cordina curated by Profs. Vince Briffa, St Agatha’s Paleo-Christian Catacombs, Rabat – Malta.

2016 Individui Universali, curated by Dr Irene Biolchini, duo exhibition with Valentina D’Accardi at the International Museum Of Ceramics in Faenza, Italy.

2015 KAPITELL, public sculpture at Pjazza Teatru Rjal, Valletta curated by Norbert Francis Attard.

2014 On Reddened Soil, works in dialogue with architect and Poet Profs. Richard England, Ministry for Gozo, Victoria Gozo-Malta.

2014 Ġgantija 2013 Project Final Phase, curated by Profs. Vince Briffa, St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta

2013 Ġgantija 2013 Project, curated by Profs. Vince Briffa. Site-Specific Interventions and installations in collaboration with composer Mariella Cassar and author Immanuel Mifsud at the UNESCO heritage site Ġgantija Temples 3800 B.C. Xagħra Gozo Malta.

2010 La Materia, Gallery Art..e, Victoria, Gozo, Malta
2008 Volumes, Ministry for Gozo, Gozo,Malta

2008 Inside Out – b’art Art Gallery, Sliema, Malta

2005 Nativitas, Banca Giuratale, Gozo, Malta

2018 Mahalla arts festival, curated by Sabine Küper-Büsch, 17th century Palazzo, Zabbar Malta.

2018 In Between, curated by Joe Philippe Abela,  Biffi Arte, Piacenza Italia.

2018 Nisġa, curated by Dr Irene Biolchini and Muża curator Dr Sandro Debono, Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta – Malta.

2018 Human Matter, curated by Joe Philippe Abela and Elyse Tonna, Malta Society of Arts, Valletta – Malta.

2017 White Memory Art in Malta and Poland 1989/2018, curated bu Dr Irene Biolchini and Dr Marinella Paderni. An exhibition of contemorary artists from Malta and Poland including Gabriel Caruana, Paweł Althamer, Mirosław Bałka, Vince Briffa, Austin Camilleri and Mark Mangion amongst others.

2017 In Transit , curated by Prof. Vince Briffa, a travelling exhibition of Maltese Contemporary art as part of Malta’s Presidency of the Council of the EU in Dusseldorf (Germany), Feldkirch (Austria) and Leeuwarden (The Netherlands).

2016 ‘De-Form Re-Form’, Curated by Umberto Buttigieg, Gabriel Caruana Foundation – The Mill Arts Centre, Birkirkara-Malta

2016 AGIUS³ , curated by Profs Kenneth Wain, exhibition with the artist’s father Mario Agius (b.1956) and the artist’s sister Charlene Agius (b.1987), Ministry for Gozo Hall, Victoria Gozo.

2015 The Mdina Cathedral Museum Biennale of Contemporary Art, curated by Dr Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci.

2015 FLUX, curated by Michelle Morrissey, Studio 104, Valletta

2014 ZAGREBI Festival, curated by Dr Marko Stamenkovic and Emil Matesic, Lauba Gallery, Zagreb Croatia
2014 & 2018 European Ceramic Context in Bornholm, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art, Denmark.
/ru:t/, curated by Fabrizio Mifsud Soler and coordinated by Arts Council Malta, Malta Maritime Museum, Vittoriosa
Genesis, curated by Dr Raphael Vella, National Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta during VIVA Festival

2013 Duke of Edinburgh Room 36, curated, by Austin Camilleri, Gozo Citadel

2012 SPAM, curated by Sguardo Contemporaneo, Pastificio Cerere, Rome, Italy

2011 Arte Padova Art Fair, Padova, Italy
Galleria Sant Eufemia, Venice, Italy

2010 In Pulverem Reverteris, curated by Mario Cassar in Victoria Gozo, VISTA- the Victoria Contemporary Art Tour, Citadella Gozo Malta.
Europa, Long Room Gallery, Oxford University, UK.

2009 Biennale di Firenze, Fortezza da Basso, Florence

2008 Madeira Internacional Arte Bienal, Museo Casa da Luz, Portugal

2006 Ceramic Tile Triennale, Museum of Modern Art, Santo Domingo

2004 Your Eyes My Eyes Images of Displacement,
Degree Show – an art project focusing on refugees in Malta, curated by Prof. Raphael Vella, St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta.