Mark Sagona

Mark Sagona, born in Victoria, Gozo in 1976, is an artist and academic. His artistic training initiated in the studio of his father Joseph with whom he occasionally worked as an assistant in churches and private residences. He subsequently studied Art under Anton Calleja, at the Malta Government School of Art in Valletta and at the University of Malta. Sagona's works, whether abstract or figurative, focus on light as a leitmotif and are characterised by bold forms and strong chromatic qualities balanced out by layers of contrasting, translucent pigment. His opus moves between carefully planned figurative representations and more energetic abstracts.

Sagona has exhibited his works in Paris, Rome and Brussels. He has held eight personal exhibitions since 2000 which include Manifesting the Soul (St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, 2004), Diaries of Existence (National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, 2008), and L'Ame d'une Ile (Maltese Embassy, Champs Elysees, Paris, 2010-11). Works by Mark Sagona are scattered in various private collections, museums and churches in Malta, Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, England, Norway, the United States and Australia. His works have also featured in various group shows in Malta and have been included in various local and international publications.

Mark Sagona is equally active in the academic field. He holds a First Class B.A.(Hons.) (1999), M.A. with distinction (2003) and has just been awarded a Ph.D. in History of Art from the University of Malta (2014), where he is a visiting lecturer in the Department of History of Art, Faculty of Arts. He has conducted pioneering research on the decorative arts in Malta, supervised undergraduate and post-graduate studies, is the author of various studies on art in Malta, and has lectured extensively on Maltese art and artists.