1959-2010
Isabelle Borg has lived in London (her birthplace, 1959) and Malta, as well as spending periods in Berlin, and West Cork, Ireland. She studied painting at the Camberwell School of Art, London, graduating BA (Hons) in 1986.
Since gaining an MA (History of Art) in 1994, she teaches art full-time at the University of Malta.In 1985, she has regularly held solo exhibitions of her paintings and often been asked to participate in group shows. Her work is found in a number of public and private collections.
inspired by natural scenery and atmospheric conditions. Much of this change has come from time spent painting Early solo landscape exhibitions Marine and Maritime Paintings (1991) and Bastions and Harbours (1992) concentrated on Malta's constructed coastline. Later, Two Islands (2004, with photographer Graham Cooper) and Maltese Landscape (2006) Irish were landscape since 2000, whilst based in Clonakilty, West Cork. One of her latest exhibition Strange Cargo (National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta, 2008) explores the effect of this series of journeys and homecomings and re-defines an earlier interest in figurative art.
Borg died in Malta in 2010, having suffered from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.] She spent the final years of her life working from her studio in Floriana.
Exhibitions
1985 - Paintings - National Museum of Archaeology, Valletta, Malta
1986 - Degree Show - Camberwell School of Art, London, UK
1987 - Paintings - Café Gallery, Lewisham, London, UK
1989 - Portraits - National Museum of Archaeology, Valletta, Malta
1991 - 1 Landscape - 2 Visions - With Ebba von Fersen, Museum of Fine Arts, Malta
1991 - Marine & Maritime Paintings - The Royal Malta Yacht Club, Malta
1992 - Austellung - Old University of Heidelberg, Germany
1992 - Bastions & Harbours - Trattoria da Pippo, Valletta, Malta
1993 - Landscapes - Malta International Arts Festival
1994 - Paintings - Melitensia Art Gallery, Lija, Malta
1995 - Inscapes - Temi Zammit Hall, University of Malta, Malta
1996 - Blaue Stunde - University of Augsburg, Germany
1997 - Mitt Hajku - Paintings for book of poems by Joe Friggieri . Ciappetti Tea Rooms and Art Gallery, Mdina, Malta
1998 - Portraits and other people - Grey College, University of Durham, UK
1999 - Paintings - Grey College, University of Durham, UK
2001 - Sol - St. James Cavalier, National Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta
2002 - Two Islands - Version One - The Bank of Ireland Arts Centre, Dublin, Ireland
2002 - Paintings of the Last Eighteen Years: - Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta
2004 - Two Islands - Version Two - St. James Cavalier, National Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta
2004 - Ode an de Hofvijver - On accession to the EU, Isabelle Borg representing Malta at the Hague, Holland
2005 - BUPA - Corporate Exhibition - Malta
2006 - Maltese Landscape - Din L-Art Helwa, Melita Street, Valletta, Malta
2008 - Strange Cargo - Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta
2017- Isabelle Borg Retrospective - Iniala5 Galleries Valletta
Education
1982-1986
Foundation and BA (Hons) Fine Art (Painting); Camberwell School of Art, London, UK
1994
MA Art (Hist.) University of Malta
Collections
National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta
Gallery 77, New Bond Street, London
Woburn Fine Arts, UK
Demarco European Art Foundation, Edinburgh, Scotland
Melitensia Art Gallery, Malta
National Contemporary Art Collection of Malta, Malta
Ministry for Youth and the Arts, Malta
Ministry for Agriculture, Malta
Central Bank of Malta, Malta
Bank of Valletta, Malta
HSBC Malta, Malta
Malta International Airport, Malta
Various private collections both in Malta and abroad.
Design Jobs
1979-1980
Graphic Designer and Typographer: Decca Record Company Ltd, London, UK
Design projects
1995
Set design for Assemblywomen by Aristophanes, directed by Joe Friggieri, University of Malta Open Air Theatre
1997
Book design and images for Mitt Hajku, poems by Joe Friggieri
1998
Set of four postage stamps commissioned by Posta (Malta) for UNESCOYear of the Ocean
Teaching Experience and Employment
1994 and 1996
Director of Painting and Drawing Landscape in Malta, a summer school of the University of Malta at the Foundation for International Studies, Valletta
Since 1994
University of Malta: Full-time appointment ( Assistant Lecturer) in Fine Art and History of Art
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Publications
1996
"Image, Metaphor, Vision" (section on Creativity and the Arts); Creative Thinking: New Perspectives; ed. Sandra Dingli; University of Malta, 1996
1996
"Definitive Images: the role of women in Malta seen through the people's art Woman in Maltese Art c1600 -1995; ed. Dennis Vella; Ministry for Social Development, 1996
1997
"Painting a realistic picture: Art in Malta today"; Beyond Schooling: Adult Education in Malta; ed. Godfrey Baldacchino and Peter Mayo; Mireva Publications, Malta 1997
1998
"The Martyrdom of St. Ursula and her Companions by Mattia Preti"; Treasures of Malta (Easter Issue); ed. Chev. John Manduca; Fondazzjjoni Patrimonju Malti, Malta 1998
2001
Chapter: "The Iconography of Evil in Maltese Art"; Powers of Good and Evil: Social Transformation and Popular Belief; ed. Paul Clough and Jon P. Mitchell; Berghahn Books 2001, New York
2004
The Maritime Ex-voto - a culture of thanksgiving in Malta; Heritage Books 2004
2008
Chapter together with Paul Clough: "Society in the Body and the Body of Society"; Cross-Currents; ed. Raphael Vella, Allied Publications, 2008
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Bibliography
The Dictionary of Artists who painted Malta; Nicholas de Piro; AVC Publishers; editions No.I (1988) and No.II (2002)
The Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, Vol. 13 (No.1), May 1999; Chapter covered in an article by Jindra Kulich; "Painting a realistic picture: Art in Malta today" (see Publications)