Madeleine Gera was born in Malta in 1960. She studied painting and draughtsmanship with Joseph Briffa, obtained a B.A. in philosophy from the Faculty of Theology at the University of Malta and, in 1991, was awarded a long-term scholarship to study etching techniques at the Scuola Internazionale di Arte Grafica, il Bisonte in Florence, Italy. Since 2000, she has continued to sharpen her skills in various private academies throughout Italy. This training shines through in her technique and stylistic approach. In 2010 and 2011, she settled definitively back in Malta, where she completed an MA in Philosophy at the University of Malta in 2014.
The experience and knowledge gathered by frequenting a plethora of academies in Italy led Gera to open her own artist’s workshop/studio in Malta: The Atelier Madeleine Gera. Her in-house classes and training focus on portrait painting and figurative academic painting within the classical tradition.
Most of Gera’s drawings are structured by confident straight lines (often visible), as if they were carvings rather than free hand drawings. Light is a fundamental compositional element that dictates how the subject is captured, presented and depicted. The resulting effect is one of gravity and gravitas.
This corpus has been presented around Europe in numerous solo exhibitions: Drawings and Etchings, Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta (1990); Collection of works on canvas, Foundation of International Studies, Valletta (1992); Recent Paintings, Museum of Archaeology, Valletta (1995); Mediterranean Summers, Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta (1999); Little Black Dress, St. Julians, Malta (2001); How bright it was, St. James Cavalier, Valletta (2001); Introducing Aberdeen Fund, Globe Financial Services, Sliema, Malta (2001); Florentine Gardens, Cleland & Souchet, St.Julians, Malta (2002); Auntie Lucy, Bay Street, St. Julians, Malta (2003); S.M.A.R.T, InterContinental Hotel, St. Julians, Malta (2003); Madeleine Gera a social glimpse, the Chamber of Commerce, Valletta (2004); and Corpus Disegno, the Malta Postal Museum, Valletta (2019).
A 2021 solo exhibition titled Twilight was organised at the Malta Society of Arts following the 2020 pandemic-induced lockdowns. The paintings in the show were created during the health crisis and depict familiar places (seaside scenes, gardens, markets, cafés, and interiors) rendered foreign by the absence of people and life.
Madeleine Gera lives and works in Malta.
