Joseph (Zepp) Cassar (Malta Australian 1962-) Bio
Zepp Cassar is an internationally acclaimed abstract figurative and landscape painter who spends most of his time working between Sydney, France, China, and Malta Zepp is seen as an established Maltese-Australian artist, born in 1962, he was largely influenced by the 1980s growing up. The 1980s were an era of growing global capitalism, political upheaval, worldwide mass media, wealth discrepancies and unique music and fashion, characterized by hip hop and electronic pop music. This has had a heavy impact on the generation of artists growing up during this time. The fall of the Berlin Wall at the end of the decade signified the end of the Cold War, yet the era was also marked by the African Famine. During this time influential art movements included Neo Geo, The Pictures Generation, and Neo-Expressionism, which took a strong hold in Germany, France, and Italy. Artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Jörg Immendorf, Enzo Cucchi, Francesco Clemente and Julian Schnabel were leading artists working at this time, alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf, who developed the street art and graffiti movements, which quickly gained an influential reputation. Zepp is an “outsider” artist, not because he never had any academic, artistic training but because his art is raw, pure, and spontaneous. It is an expression of his outsiderism to escape from the past and serve as a therapy to reshape the tribulations of life. Outsider art is a type of “primitive” art style that has now a widespread recognition in the contemporary art world. It is also the latest development in contemporary art practice by artists “operating at the periphery of society” and to “attempt to fashion a renewal in art and in some cases, a utopian renewal of society”, Zepp uses the word “primitive” to explain the rawness and purity of the artistic expression and the definition implies usually all creative works such as paintings, drawings, sculptures, assemblages, and even simple garden designs and other outdoor constructions done by people who never had any formal training in art and who produce art without regard and reward from the mainstream art world’s recognition, marketplace or definitions. These people first make art for themselves or their existing community, often without recognizing themselves as artists. Of course, there are debates today about this new idea of labelling a type of art which intends to be naive or have idiosyncratic qualities. The main aspect is that outsider art remains free from all formal conventions. This type of art is today sought by many art collectors and there is an increase of outsider art exhibitions held in many countries across the world. There are also a good number of museums which invest in outsider art collections.
Zepp, originally emigrated to Australia 21 years ago and settled in Sydney. He joined the Salesians where he contributed immensely to the formation and upbringing of disadvantaged young children and adolescents. Zepp used art for the last 23 years as the tool to bring about the bridge between the non-communicative world and the silent world. In Australia he met the famous painter from Sydney, Donald Friend, whom he looked after during the last years of his life. All this contributed immeasurably to Zepp’s artistic development and influence to start painting. Zepp‘s paintings, are infused with wonderful colours and an instinctive feeling for light and all that is found in Maltese culture. Zepp is enthused by an intrinsic, internal, drive to paint from his feelings. Zepp paints abundance and prosperity and not scarcity and the fish he paints and all that is related to the sea symbolizes a positive outlook towards life. The fish as a symbol of the sea does not just reminds us of the beauty and diversity of marine life but there is also a clear message about our environment. If we neglect and abuse our water resources, we will lose a precious characteristic of nature. Besides the environmental significance, Cassar uses unconsciously the fish as a symbol of rebirth. The years he spent in an institutional religious life left a great influence on his character and artwork. Zepp is not satisfied to use one medium only. When painting he uses and experiments with a mixture of mixed media. The bright Mediterranean colours and light are strongly felt in most of his works. His emotive moods are expressed with a great potential that transforms his memories into visual icons of life. His art is not only a tool for exploring the unconscious but also that for mapping our existential picture of ourselves and that of society.
Zepp exhibited his works widely and his paintings are found in many private collections and galleries in Sydney, Tasmania, England, Ireland, Singapore, Serbia, Paris, Bordeaux, Vietnam, and Malta.
Solo Exhibitions
Picenum Gallery – Italy – July 2018,
Inala 5 Gallery Art Expo – New York 14 -17 April 2016 – 3 Days Live Demonstration
Residence Via Appia Antica – Rome – 29 September 2014
Galleria Ginorii Conti 8 – Rome – 19 September 2014
Shanghai Art Expo – Shanghai – 2012 and 2013,
Nancy’s Gallery – Shanghai – 2011 and 2013,
Tectonic Art Gallery – Sydney – 2012
St James Cavillier Valletta Malta – May 2010 (1 work included in the museum’s contemporary art collection)
Galerie Impaire – Paris – 2010,
Casino di Venezia – Malta – 2010
Musée de la Création Franche Begles France – Bordeaux – 2009 (3 works included in the museum international outsider artists collection)
Maltese Embassy – Paris – 2009, Gallery Annex Sydney May 2008,
Sara Roney Gallery – Sydney – 2008, Desvaux de Marigny – Bordeaux – Oct 2007
James Harvey Gallery – Sydney – Mar 2006
Refugee Week – Killarney – 2005, St Patrick’s Salesian College Malta – 1987