Four artists – Carlos Garaicoa, Gerold Miller, Jurgen Ostarhild, and Yeoul Son – bring their work to Valletta Contemporary under the curatorship of Norbert Francis Attard, in an exhibition that pushes the boundaries of the aesthetic by either experimenting with media, incorporating new technologies and digital realities or addressing social, political and economic issues. By pushing the limits of the known, these four diverse and seemingly disparate artists bring new ideas, perspectives, and experiences to the forefront. Ann Dingli speaks to the shows’ curator and artists about their work showing at Valletta Contemporary (VC).

Ann Dingli (AD): Norbert, were you aware of the work of these artists before this collective show? What resonates as a common thread between them all, if any?

Norbert Francis Attard (NFA): I have a very different history with each of the four artists. Carlos Garaicoa, whom I have known the longest, and who has been established since 2004. I first met Carlos in 1999 through an exhibition we were both participating in. It was a huge collective show titled DIASPORA, International Art Meeting, and it was held in Ciudad de Oviedo, Spain, curated by Javier Baron, Orlando Britto Jinorio, Luciano Escanilla, Anke Mellin, Andres Pereiro and Cuco Suarez. The second time I met Carlos was again in a very large show when we were participating in the Echigo Tsumari Triennale, curated by Fran Kitagawa, in Japan, in 2006. I’ve followed Carlo’s career as artist since, and we kept in contact throughout the years. Then in 2022 and 2023 I visited his new studio in Madrid and things followed from there.

I met Gerold Miller a few years ago, I believe around 2018, when I first visited his studio in Berlin. Ironically, it was Gerold who first noticed Valletta Contemporary through our Instagram account. He wrote a short message with a positive comment about the gallery. I liked his work so the next time I was in Berlin, he invited me to come over. I must have visited his studio at least three other times in the last few years.

I met Yeoul Son and Jurgen Ostarhild around the same time, a bit over two years ago. Yeoul applied for a three-month artist-in residence term at Gozo Contemporary in 2021. I got to know her more during this period, as well as when Chris Meigh-Andrews was in residency at the same time. I invited Chris to curate a show at VC called Meta Landscapes – it was a media show held in 2022 comprising 11 artists and Yeoul was included in this collective. I followed Yeoul’s beautiful work from then on, which inspired me to include her in this current show 24.46.50.97.

I discovered Jurgen’s work before I met him. I had never heard of him, but when I first saw his pieces being shown at Art Basel, I had to purchase one immediately. His gallerist introduced us via email and since Jurgen was based in Berlin, an appointment to meet was easy to set up. After our first meeting in Berlin, Jurgen visited me in Gozo. From then on, it was easy to organise his participation in this show.

When I toyed with the idea of putting these four artists together, I had no particular concept, except that I knew instinctively that they would complement each other in the spaces I knew so well at VC. It is common practice that most people want to see a common factor, a common tread, running through the participating artists – a failure to do this, could be considered disastrous. I tend to think otherwise because, in a wider and holistic sense, I consider everything to be connected in some way, even when apparently it is not as obvious. I believe that different and diverse works can work together in magical ways, sometimes better and more stimulating than when the common treads are obvious and clear. This show is definitely a case in point.