John Busuttil Leaver

John Busuttil Leaver (born John Robert Busuttil; 1964) is a Maltese visual artist and painter. He has worked in graphic book design and written about contemporary art.[1] He is philosophical about his work and sees what he does as non-commercial: a statement about the contemporary. He is known for his solo show 'A Diary of Obsessions', (2008, Saint James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta) for work which commented against overdevelopment.

John Busuttil Leaver Maltese artist & graphic designer
John Busuttil Leaver's 'TREEWALLS' painting depicted nature being hemmed in by development.
'Floating Spirit', oil on canvas by John Busuttil Leaver, 2008

Busuttil Leaver studied at the Malta Government School of art under Harry Alden,[2] and later at The Art and Design Centre, Valletta. He began working as a graphic designer but continued to paint and participate in many collectives.[3][4][5] The National Museum of Fine Arts,[6] gave him a one-man showing in 1997. The Museum made an acquisition of his work later in 1999.[7] Other one-man shows followed in various galleries and art venues.[3] In 2014 he exhibited work in London.

A number of art critics and curators have covered his work including Nicholas de Piro,[8] Michael J. Schiavone,[9] Emanuel Fiorentino,[10] Dominic Cutajar,[11] Dennis Vella,[12] Adrian Stivala[13] Raphael Vella[14] and Dr Louis Lagana[15][16] The Times of Malta published various articles.[17][18][19] He won a number of art competitions[20] and was featured in radio[21] and TV programmes[22] most noteworthy of which was a Canadian TV Cultural programme, 'TV Frames',[23] during their feature on Malta.

Chronology, list of exhibitions

Collective
  • Maltafest, National Arts Festival, Valletta, Malta 1984/87/88/89/90/96/97.
  • Lion's Club Art Collective, National Museum of Archaeology, Valletta, Malta 1987/93.
  • Industrial Design Competition Exhibition (PL Light fitting), National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta 1986.
  • Maltese German Circle, Valletta, Malta 1987 Chamber of Commerce, Valletta, Malta 1988.
  • Arti Independenza, National Gallery of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta 1989.
  • Muzikafest Art, (NSTF), Malta University, 1989.
  • Solidarity with Poland Art Show, MUT Premises, Valletta, Malta 1989.
  • Din L-Art Helwa, Malta National Trust Art Show, Naxxar, Malta 1990/91.
  • MAS Charity Collective, Chamber of Commerce, Valletta, Malta 1991.
  • Permatex Art Show, Royal British Legion, Valletta, Malta 1992.
  • Association of Maltese Artists, Palazzo De La Salle, Valletta, Malta 1992.
  • Teacher's Whiskey Art Award Finalist's Show, National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta −1992/93/95.
  • Cathedral Museum Collective Contemporary Art Show, Mdina 1994/5/6.
  • Kreativa, Finalist Collective Show (Institute of Visual Arts), National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta 1996.
  • Ta' Ganu Windmill - Arts, Cultural and Crafts Centre, Birkirkara, Malta. 1996.
  • Contemporary Christian Art in Malta, Cathedral Museum, Mdina 1996, 2007.
  • Eden Foundation Art Charity Show, Gozo, 1997/98.
  • SEDQA – Art, Substance of Life, University Campus April 2000.
  • First National Art Competition 2002 – Trade Fair Grounds Naxxar–November 2002.
  • Millennium Chapel Foundation, Group Charity show – Hilton Malta, November 2003.
  • De La Salle Brothers Centenary Show, Palazzo De La Salle, Valletta, 2003.
  • Girgenti (Prime Minister's official residence) open day collective- Palazz tal-Inquizitur, Girgenti, Malta 2006.
  • Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar Christmas Collective – Casino Maltese, Valletta, 2008.
  • Birgu Art Collective – Maritime Museum, Birgu, Malta, 2009

Personal
  • 'Circles', Auberge de Provence, Valletta, Malta, Nov 1988.
  • 'Painting', New Gallery, National Museum of Archaeology, Malta, Dec 1991.
  • 'Majjistral', National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta 1997.
  • 'Manscapes',The Labyrinth Art Gallery' Valletta, Malta 1999.
  • 'Woman', Le Meridian Phoenicia, Floriana, Malta 2002.
  • 'BLU', VGB Art Gallery, Valletta, Malta 2002.
  • 'Green', VGB Art Gallery, Valletta, Malta 2004.
  • 'RETRO-04', Cleland & Souchet, Portomaso, Malta 2004.
  • 'Unseen Selections', Corinthia Palace Hotel, San Anton 2004.
  • 'A Diary of Obsessions', St James Cavalier, Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta, 2008

See also

References
  1. John Busuttil Leaver "Malta through the eyes of a French photographer", The Times, 20 November 1986. John Busuttil Leaver "Langlois – A life in Art", The Times, 7 June 1987. John Busuttil Leaver "Art in Malta today",The Times, 28 June 1987. John Busuttil Leaver "Pitre’s Baroque Variations", The Times, 16 October 1987. John Busuttil Leaver "Andrew Diacono’s "Clay People", The Times, 7 January 1988. John Busuttil Leaver "Four distinct paths in one exhibition", The Times, 3 November 1989. John Busuttil Leaver "Twin search for esoteric language", The Times, 22 December 1989. John Busuttil Leaver "An Arts Centre or a Contemporary Art Museum?", The Malta Independent, 9 March 1997. John Busuttil Leaver "Art & Superman Politics", The Malta Independent, 10 May 1998' John Busuttil Leaver "Business in art is business, but the business of art is not business", The Malta Independent, 11 Oct 1998. John Busuttil Leaver "The State of the Art", The Malta Independent, 7 March 1999. John Busuttil Leaver "Sex, Spirituality and loss in Mediterranean Art", The Malta Independent, 1 August 1999
  2. https://archive.is/20131008120644/http://llrc.mcast.edu.mt
  3. See list below
  4. Contemporary Christian Art in Malta, 1996, The Mdina Cathedral Museum, Mdina, Malta 1996; ISBN 9990951063 p. 45
  5. Contemporary Christian Art Malta, 2007, The Mdina Cathedral Museum, Mdina, Malta 2007; ISBN 9789990951158 p. 28
  6. "National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta".
  7. "Museums Department - period covered 1 January 1999 to 31 December 1999. p. 206" (PDF).
  8. Nicholas de Piro, The International Dictionary of Artists who painted Malta, (AVC Publications, Malta, 2002). ISBN 9993264601. p. 74
  9. Michael J. Schiavone , "Dictionary of Maltese Biographies" Pubblikazzjonijet Indipendenza. Malta, 2009. ISBN 9789993291329 pp. 364–365
  10. E. Fiorentino, "Feelers of the mind" The Sunday Times, 27 November 1988, E. Fiorentino, "Trying new possibilities" The Sunday Times, December 1991, E. Fiorentino, "Majjistral experienced in a Gregale" The Sunday Times, 23 March 1997, E. Fiorentino, "Manscapes at the Labyrinth" The Sunday Times, 6 June 1999, E. Fiorentino, "The cloths of Heaven" The Sunday Times, 24 November 2002
  11. Dominic Cutajar, "Leaver: Majjistral", Exhibition Catalogue, 1997. Dominic Cutajar, "Leaver Paintings", Exhibition Catalogue, 1988.
  12. Denis Vella, "Questing Spirit" The Times, 30 November 1988
  13. Adrian Stivala, "Intimate Art", The Weekend Chronicle, Malta, 18 December 1988. Adrian Stivala, "Scenes from everyday life" The Times, Malta, 21 December 1991
  14. Raphael Vella, "The humanness of stone", The Malta Independent, Malta, 30 May 1999
  15. "Louis Lagana is a leading academic on psychology of art and contemporary art issues".
  16. Louis Lagana, "A Pied Piper's Diary of Obsessions," Grip Magazine, Malta, 2009
  17. 'New page in a diary of a visual realist', The Times, 31 October 2008, Malta. pp. 26–27; also https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081031/local/new-page-in-diary-of-a-visual-realist.231196
  18. 'Weekender talks to artist John Busuttil Leaver' The Times, Weekender supplement, 20 November 2004, Malta. p. 3
  19. 'The last word – John Busuttil Leaver' The Times, Weekender Supplement,18 May 2002, Malta. p. 10
  20. Worldwide third prize in the IFSTS International Poster Award, Spain, 1985; see article in The Times, 12 September, Malta, 1985 First prize for painting in the 1995 Teacher's Whiskey Art Awards held and judged by the National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta, 1995; see Lara Stickland, 'An Exhibition of Interiors', The Times, 21 December, Malta, 1991. First prize for the logo design competition of "Dancepower" (Dance Council of Malta), 2000; see front cover,'Dance Power A unity of dancers', programme, Manoel Theatre, Valletta, Malta 2000
  21. Interview in Kuluri (Colours) cultural programme, on ''Voice of the Mediterranean'' Radio (1997, 1999)
  22. Min hu l'Artist Malti? (Who are Maltese Artists?) Super 1 TV, Malta, 1999; Meander, on TVM, Malta, 1997, 1999 & 2002
  23. "TV Frames youtube sample".
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