Reggie Burrows Hodges opens first MICAS exhibition after year-long Malta residency

American painter Reggie Burrows Hodges (b. 1965) presents 'Mela' at the newly opened Malta International Contemporary Art Space (MICAS) in La Valletta, following an unprecedented year-long residency on the island. Invited by MICAS artistic director Edith Devaney, Hodges relocated from his Maine studio to a waterfront workspace in La Valletta, producing large-scale paintings, drawings, and sketches inspired by Maltese life, labor, and landscapes. The exhibition includes 'Mamajamma', an eight-meter-long work referencing Caravaggio's compositional strategies and depicting water polo as a contemporary religion. Hodges' signature technique—starting with a black ground and applying muted colors—yields ambiguous, sun-drenched Mediterranean seascapes in a section titled 'La Bouée' (The Buoy). MICAS, designed by architecture firm Ipostudio, cantilevers over 17th-century Ospizio fortifications, its glass-enclosed, orthagonal structure adapting to the steep terrain. The museum houses 320 monuments per 55 hectares in La Valletta and displays Caravaggio's 'Saint Jerome Writing' and 'The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist' (1608), which influenced Hodges. The exhibition runs at MICAS, Triq Joseph J. Mangion, Floriana.