AMERICAN ARTIST REGGIE BURROWS HODGES BRINGS HIS FIRST EUROPEAN SOLO EXHIBITION TO MICAS WITH MELA, A MALTA-MADE BODY OF WORK THAT LOOKS BEYOND POSTCARD BEAUTY TO EXPLORE MEMORY, LABOUR, LANDSCAPE AND THE LIVES UNFOLDING ACROSS THE ISLAND
Reggie Burrows Hodges: Mela brings to MICAS the California artist whose large canvases are created from deep black backgrounds from which his figures slowly emerge.
Malta has often been distilled into a familiar visual shorthand: weathered limestone, corbelled stone walls and the sunlit spectacle that always accompanies the expected image of the island.
But in the hands of American artist Reggie Burrows Hodges, this postcard image is beginning to shift. His first European solo exhibition, Reggie Burrows Hodges: Mela, opens at Malta International Contemporary Art Space from May 9 to August 30, and it will offer a different way of seeing the island, one shaped by the artist’s lived experience.
Developed during the artist’s extended stay in Malta, Reggie Burrows Hodges: Mela brings together 30 paintings, all created on the island. Installed across MICAS’ striking, multilevel galleries, the exhibition unfolds as a journey through Hodges’s largest canvases to date.
Visitors to MICAS will immediately absorb his recognisable signature: figures slowly emerging from deep black backgrounds, their forms and gestures gradually coming into focus within richly layered, textured scenes.
At the heart of Hodges’s work on Malta are his familiar themes of memory and labour, how work leaves its mark on both the body and the landscape, and how personal and collective histories are carried forward. In Malta, these themes take on a distinct character, as audiences will see the contrast between the island’s natural coastline and the constant movement of construction. Their quiet but powerful presence throughout these large canvases creates a striking narrative inside the tiered MICAS galleries.
During his time here, Hodges immersed himself in everyday life in Malta. He observed the steady rhythm of construction sites, but also moments of pause and community, people swimming along the Sliema coast or gathering for water polo matches in seaside towns.
These lived experiences filter into the work, resulting in paintings that feel both deeply personal and closely tied to Malta’s evolving identity.
The exhibition’s title, Mela, comes from one of the Maltese language’s most familiar expressions. Used in many different ways depending on tone and context, for Hodges the word appears to carry a sense of transition, something about to be said.
To the artist, this came to represent a moment of possibility, a point “where meaning is still forming.” In it, Hodges seems to locate a very particular aspect of Malteseness: a sense of openness and the friendship he experienced here in Malta.
One of the highlights of Reggie Burrows Hodges: Mela is a large-scale, site-specific painting inspired by the artist’s encounter with The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist by Caravaggio, a masterpiece closely linked to Malta’s cultural heritage. Hodges reimagines the drama and scale of the original, translating it into his own contemporary visual language and creating a powerful dialogue between past and present.
The experience at MICAS goes beyond painting. Within the museum’s external barrel-vaulted spaces, Hodges also presents a sound installation inspired by ancient musical traditions connected to Malta and Gozo’s Neolithic sites. This immersive element adds another layer to the exhibition, encouraging visitors to engage not just visually, but through sound and space.
Curated by MICAS Artistic Director Edith Devaney, Reggie Burrows Hodges: Mela reflects the museum’s commitment to inviting international artists to create work in direct response to Malta. In Hodges’s case, that approach proves especially meaningful. Every piece in the exhibition was developed here, shaped by time spent connecting with the island. As the artist himself has noted, without that immersion, the depth of the experience would simply not have been possible.
Set within the beautifully restored Ospizio complex overlooking the Floriana bastions, MICAS is itself an essential part of the visit. The building brings together historic architecture and contemporary design, with open spaces and sweeping views across the harbour toward Valletta. Whether you are visiting as an art enthusiast or simply looking for a cultural day out, the setting offers plenty to explore at your own pace.
For families and curious visitors alike, Reggie Burrows Hodges: Mela is an opportunity to experience Malta from a fresh perspective. Described by Hodges as “a poem to Malta”, Mela captures something both familiar and unexpected, not the Malta postcard, but the living space that is being shaped by people, memory and time.
