Ruth Bianco
Born in Malta. Lives and works Malta and U.K.
Work: Digital and combined media, installation, video, drawing
Education
2005
PhD Fine Art - University of Kent at Canterbury / University College for the Creative Arts, UK
Thesis: Ground Erasure: an investigation of the notion of “territory”
through theories of deterritorialisation and machinic connectivity
1999
MA Fine Art - University of Kent at Canterbury / University College for the Creative Arts, UK
Foundation art training: Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), Msida, Malta;
Malta School for Art & Craft, Targa Gap, Malta;
University of Malta, Malta
Representing Malta in International exhibitions
2007
Crossings,, Espace Camille Claudel, Amiens, France
2006
Femmes d’Europe, Espace Rendez-vous de Lices, Saint Tropez, France
2004
Nieuwe EU Landen, (Exhibition for EU accession countries), Regentenkamer, Kunstzentrum, The Hague, Netherlands
2004
Breakthrough, (Exhibition for EU accession countries), Grote Kerk Den Haag, The Hague, Netherlands
Solo Exhibitions
2007
Feb artifecture - A Fictitious Public Sculpture Project – Start newspaper project, Malta Today, Malta
Jan sealand – Crossings, Espace Camille Claudel, Amiens, France
2006
Nov/Dec spectacle (a/v) – Rencontres Internationales France/Berlin, Paris-Vilette Theatre, Paris, France
Sept film drawings – Citric Gallery, Brescia, Italy
July/Sept mortal chains (short doc) – webcast documentaries, Four Docs, Channel4.com
July/Aug speed journeys (video) - Femmes d’Europe, Espace Rendez-vous de Lices, Saint Tropez, France
March don’t run over the birds, please (film installation) - National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta
2005
Sept TOUCHING LAND: flight (a/v), spectacle (a/v), wall of prayer (installation)
- Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, England
June red sunday (spatial interventions with red posts & barrier tape / photography)
- activity in public places, Folkestone, UK
April red alert (bookwork) - Future Hope exhibition, HSBC, Canary Wharf, London
April/May solution (installation: cloth suspension, soap bars, soap powder & scent, bandaged trunks,
red siren light) – Blitz group show, War Shelter, Birgu, Malta
March GROUND ERASURE: speed journeys and tunnel vision (installation of video/sound works)
- Parallel sceening between Herbert Read Gallery, UCCA, UK and Waikato University, New Zealand
2004
Nov wall of prayer (paper & light installation); doubletake (a/v); red alert and
if I just turn and run (bookworks) - Nieuwe EU Landen, Regentenkamer, Kunstzentrum, The Hague
July/Aug wall of prayer (paper/light installation); doubletake (a/v); red alert and
if I just turn and run (bookworks) - Breakthrough, Grote Kerk Den Haag, The Hague, Netherlands
2003
Dec don’t brand me love me (PVC banners, 200 balloons & postcards)
- activity: AIDS project held on the City Gate entrance monument, Valletta,
on 21st December, World Aids Day
June borders booklaunch & printworks (publication and cloth suspension)
- St James Cavalier Art Centre, Valletta, Malta
Feb wall of prayer (paper & light installation) - BORDERS group installations, Pinto Wharf, Malta
2002
Dec if.. (digital enlargement) - CDAK International Design, Korea
Oct traces of traces (digital prints) - CALPE Festival Gibraltar
Sept if I just turn and run (bookwork) & worldsnaps (triptych digital reconstructions)
- TRAVERSES, Herbert Read Gallery, Canterbury, UK
July demarcations (mixed media installation) - Cityspaces, Valletta, Malta
Feb weathertalk (audio/video installation) and worldsnaps (digital reconstructions)
- UBERgroupshow, Portomaso, St Julian’s, Malta
2000/2001
Dec y-war (digital print/collage works) - CDAK, Seoul, Korea
Sept traces of traces (digital printworks) - Heidelberg Castle, Germany
March traces of traces (digital output) - 9th WAVE art-fair, Korea
2000
Nov (touring) losing touch (bookwork) in MillenniumBookProject UK - touring bookworks
- Barbican Centre; Centerprise Hackney London; Bowen West Theatre Gallery, Bedford
Sept interMORPHstices (A/V installation & light-boxes) - Inauguration of St James Cavalier, Valletta, Malta
(various) traces of traces (digital prints):
Oct Seoul Icograda Exhibition – Seoul, Korea
Aug Harlech Printmaking-Open – Harlech, Wales
July CDAK International Design Exhibition – Seoul, Korea
1999
Dec printworks from veils of absence (digital enlargements)
- KIAD Masters, ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art) London
Sept veils of absence (soft-sculpture: projection, fabric, light & stone installation)
- KIAD sculpture space, Canterbury, UK
SOLO EXHIBITIONS - 1993-1998
1993/98 Open Studio for onging work : 4 Shipwreck Promenade, Xemxija, Malta
1998 cell (pendant boxes installation)
Corradino Prisons, Paola, Malta
1997 retrievals (found object installation)
Open Studio, Xemxija, Malta
1996 monoliths and portals of an island (works on paper)
Galerie Het Bourlahuis, Antwerp, Belgium
1996 farben aus malta (works on paper)
Stadtbibliothek Neuss, Neuss, Dusseldorf, Germany
1995 visions from an island (works on paper)E.Tage del A.rte, Galerie der Stadt, Adenau, Germany
1993 intimations of immortality (works on paper & terracotta)
Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta
1993 dark studies (paintings)
AZAD, Valletta, Malta
Selected Group Exhibitions
1998 - Malta Week - Sarasota Opera House, Florida, USA
1998 - International Telecommunications Conference - Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta
1998 - Cathedral Museum Art Biennale – Mdina Cathedral Museum, Mdina
1997 - Malta International Arts Festival - Manoel Theatre, Valletta
1997 - Il-Mara (Maltese & American collaboration) - Westin Dragonara Suite, St Julian’s
1997 - Institute of Visual Arts Exhibition – IVA, South Street, Valletta
1997 - Summer Exhibition – NAAFI pre-St James Cavalier, Valletta
1996 - Malta International Arts Festival - Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta
1996 - Da Pippo Restaurant - Valletta
1995 - Landscape in Art (Mid-Med Awards) – Chamber of Commerce, Valletta
1995 - Woman in Maltese Art 1600-1995 – National, Museum of Archaeology, Valletta
1995 - IVA group-exhibition - Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta
1994 - 4 Artists – Main Lounge, Union Club, Sliema; and Townshall, Gozo
1993 - The Nude in Maltese Art – Iljieli Mediterranji, Robert Sammut Hall, Floriana
1992 - Portrait Exhibition – Libyan Arab Cultural Institute, Sliema
1992 - L’Awtoritratt Self-Portrait Exhibition – Iljieli Mediterranji, Robert Sammut Hall, Floriana
1992 - Maltese Landscape Exhibition – Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta
1992 - Lions Club Exhibition - National Museum of Archaeology, Valletta
1990 - Malta International Arts Festival – National Museum of Archaeology, Valletta
1990 - Mithna ta’ Ganu Inaugurating Exhibition, Gabriel Caruana exhibition space, B’Kara
1990 - Iljieli Mediterranji Arts Festival Inauguration – 1990-98 yearly participation, various sites
1990 -1998 Windmill Gallery:
- regular exhibition: Mithna ta’ Ganu, Gabriel Caruana gallery space, B’Kara, Malta
1989 - Art Discussion Groupshow - CMTU, Valletta
1989 - Society of Arts Collective - Malta Society of Arts, Valletta
1989 - Art Discussion Groupshow - De la Salle College, Cottonera
1988 - Independence Day September Exhibition – NP Headquarters, Pieta (other sites 1985-89)
1983 - N. Arti groupshow - Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta
1981 - N. Arti groupshow - Regency House Foyer, Valletta
1980 -1983 Art Club Premises:
- regular exhibition: Annex to Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta
Special Projects
2002
Founding member of START, a contemporary group of Maltese artists that has organized and curated its own exhibitions seeking to push the boundaries of art practice in Malta and beyond its shores. Exhibitions to date include Cityspaces (2002), Borders (2003), Booklaunch (2003), Blitz (2005).
Collections
Principal public collections: Tate Gallery, London;
Victoria & Albert Museum,London;
Royal College of Art, London;
University College for the Creative Arts, UK;
University of Kent at Canterbury, UK; Communication Design Association of Korea, Seoul;
John Mackintosh Hall, Gibraltar;
Bank of Valletta, Malta;
HSBC, Malta;
National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta
Work also to be found in private collections in Malta and other countries
Bibliography & Publications
2007 Crossings – Une Vue Contemporaine, catalogue published Imprimerie Yvert, Paris, France (pp 34-37)
2006 L' Art, La Femme, L' Europe; catalogue published Art'Fab, France (pp 38-39)
2006 Postgraduate Prospectus 2007/08; article: Uncharted Territory; published University College for the Creative
Arts, UK (pp 10-11)
2006 Kultura Magazine; article: Ground Erasure; published Malta Council for the Arts
2005 Blitz; catalogue published Start, Malta
2005 Perspective Magazine; article: Doublefirst at KIAD; published Kent Institute of Art & Design, UK
2004 Breakthrough - Perspective on art from the ten new EU member states; catalogue published Stichting Grote
Kerk, The Hague
2003 Borders; catalogue published Start, Malta (pp 24-29)
2003 Graphic Design (Korea) - 2003_08 Vol. 95 (front cover & interview pp 54 -57)
2002 Cityspaces; catalogue published Start, Malta
2001 AN-artist newsletter; article: Transcending fixed Geographies; published AN Magazine, Newcastle, UK
2001 Conference paper: Why not change the World - Communication Culture, Crossover & Design; published
CDAK, International Communication Design Conference for Artists and Designers, Seoul, Korea
Artist Statement
My engagement with practice-led research over recent years (2001-05) involved an investigation of the notions of "territory". I developed the term Ground Erasure as a conceptual framework to explore the machinic spaces within which the contemporary artist is operating and creating strategies responding to issues of dislocation and deterritorialisation. My preoccupation with the conceptualities and undefined zones of territoriality continues. Materials to me are “processes”, malleable and able to unearth infinite possibilities. Connectivity inspires me as a creative platform informing and shaping new forms of art.