Patrick J. Fenech is an artist, photographer and educator based mainly in Malta and London. His interest in photography lies where art and photography collide. The divergent photography resulting from this 'fission' reflects his uninhibited approach to new thinking and experimentation in redefining photography.



He studied photography in Milan after being awarded a 4 year scholarship by the Italian Cultural Institute and later worked in the advertising field for 15 years. His work as an artist has been exhibited internationally and published in a number of art books. He was also awarded top funding by the Malta Council for Culture and Arts to organize the first Valletta Photography Festival in Malta.



Fenech also curated a number of exhibitions and is presently researching in an archive of vintage photography producing a series of publications. He is a visiting lecturer of photography at the University of Malta in the faculty of Media and Knowledge Science. His artistic oeuvre also includes installation work, sculpture and video. He has this year been invited to form part of the board of directors at St James Cavalier, Centre for Arts and Creativity in the capital city of Malta, Valletta.



"SHROUD FOR THE SEA" series



Living on two Islands, Fenech is constantly aware of the fate of our environment especially the sea. The fascination with the sea and the passage of time is a recurring theme in Fenech's work. Early man noticed the association of the phases of the moon with the sea's tidal movements, the sea therefore frequently formed part of the collective metaphor for the passage of time. He continues to express this theme with verve and dedication so that people are reminded about their obligations to safeguard this precious blue dot.



A selection of these photographs are presently being shown at the NordArt 2103 International Contemporary Art in Budelsdrof, Germany. His first composite of this series was acquired by the U.S. Department of State for their Art in embassies programme.



"ENCOUNTER WITH A SIREN" series



The Mediterranean Sea embraces years of constant changes, a place where thousands of intermingled stories are told, evoking hundreds of journeys. It is this fascination with Homer's epic poem 'The Odyssey' and Ulysses journey that continues to tickle Fenech's imagination. He transposes this mythical event into a contemporary idiom as a Siren penetrates the windscreen of a vehicle during a car-wash. The car comes to 'bathe', to cleanse itself from the grit and grime of material life. It descends from dry land of humanity into the underworld of humidity; the alien world of Poseidon.



"DANCING CATRINAS" series



This montage work, which is influenced by the French writer and philosopher George Bataille, is a collaboration between a British photographer Richard Ellis who settled in Malta in the 1860s and recorded some of the finest examples of the 'Momento Mori' chapels on the Island of Malta before these were destroyed during WWII. As part of his work in this old photographic archive, Fenech digs out images of the interiors of these chapel of bones as glass plate negatives and superimposes the contemporary images of 'Dancing Catrinas' in this space. The colour enhanced final photographs, derivative of Mexican art and the Day of the Dead celebrations continue to enhance this literary and visual theme. Sex and religion make excellent bed-fellows in art.