Summer Art Show offers vibrant showcase of Gibraltar’s creative talent

By María Jesús Corrales

The Summer Art Show at the Fine Arts Gallery in Casemates has a wide-ranging collection of works by local artists, bringing together an eclectic mix of styles, disciplines and subjects.

The exhibition was opened last week by the Minister for Culture, Christian Santos, in the presence of Victor Gonzalez from the Fine Arts Association.

Open until June 5, the annual exhibition features landscape paintings, portraits, still life, photography, sculpture and textiles, highlighting the breadth of Gibraltar’s creative community.
Works on display range from vibrant urban and rural scenes to softer Impressionistic-inspired paintings, alongside pencil sketches, abstract pieces and photography.

Among the featured artists is Batsheba Peralta, whose floral paintings stand out for their striking colours, while Ambrose Avellano presents a large earth-toned canvas depicting a nude man carrying an injured companion.

The exhibition also includes two interpretations of Alice in Wonderland by Rose Ann Victor, animal studies, life drawings and photographic works.

Photographer Steven Hermida is exhibiting a portrait of a member of an Indian tribe taken during a courtship ceremony, a work that was shown in London in 2025.

Mr Hermida, a member of the Atlas of Humanity collective, documents indigenous communities and remote cultures through his photography.

“I travel to take photos, and I take photos when I travel,” he told the Chronicle.

“What I do is document people in their daily lives, but I also enjoy capturing portraits.”

“The portrait of that particular man has a distinct quality where his eyes appear to follow you through 180 degrees.”

Another of his works, presented as a triptych, depicts a masked dance in Bhutan.

“My mission in life is to show how people live on the other side of the world, whether in the Indian subcontinent or in remote parts of Africa,” Mr Hermida said.

Mr Hermida will be exhibiting more of his work in New York next month.

Artist Shane Dalmedo is exhibiting a painting entitled ‘Please after you! No, please after you!’, which depicts several figures gathered around a table waiting for someone to begin eating a fish.

Speaking about the piece, Ms Dalmedo said: “I always like the viewer to interpret the meaning in my work for themselves.”

“In this piece, called ‘Please after you! No, please after you!’, there is a narrative unfolding, and I think it may be one of my more illustrative pieces in style, perhaps influenced by the divisions we are seeing in the world today.”

Ceramicist Zoe Radley is showcasing a collection of ceramic lamps entitled Blaze, Aqua and Lava, inspired by the natural world.

“Each piece draws inspiration from the raw beauty and energy of the natural world, translated through handcrafted ceramic forms and expressive glazes,” Ms Radley said.

“Nature is at the heart of the ceramic lamp collection Blaze, Aqua and Lava.”

The exhibition also features textile mural work by Natalia Dalmedo, including a large-scale piece inspired by Russian Matryoshka dolls.

“I have always loved matryoshka; I find their shape appealing and immensely enjoy combining colours so that the final results are always very different,” Ms Dalmedo said.

“When I see a pattern that I like, I feel inspired and immediately start making a new piece.”

The Fine Arts Summer Show is free to enter and is open at the Fine Arts Gallery in Casemates until June 5.