Maltese multidisciplinary artist Ryan Falzon is taking his talent overseas, as he prepares to bring his distinctive visual language to Milan this October, with a solo exhibition at the Young Art Hunters gallery.

Titled Arcana, the exhibition opens on 24 October 2025 and will run for three weeks, presenting 17 oil paintings on canvas. Curated by François Zammit, Arcana explores Ryan’s ongoing fascination with Mediterranean religious beliefs, superstitions, and the interplay of the sacred and the profane.

Ryan Falzon is known for his bold, politically charged paintings, and his work often blends pop culture imagery with esoteric symbolism. In Arcana, he expands this visual dialogue through elements like tarot cards, emojis, car iconography, and talismans, creating a fantastical, contemporary take on ancient Mediterranean hieroglyphics.

Earlier this summer, the artist presented figurative works on plants and domestic interiors at Still Life | Life, Still at the Malta Society of Arts in Valletta, offering a modern take on the Maltese modernist painter Giorgio Preca (1909–1984). With Arcana, he returns to his exploration of Mediterranean culture, combining pop references, symbolic text, and a deliberately vibrant palette to engage audiences in a narrative of raw, existential emotion.

According to Omar N’Shea, who contributed to Arcana’s catalogue, Ryan Falzon’s use of imagery – from snakes and eyes to dice, peppers, and words – ‘forces us to recognise them as our own. They are neither quaint superstitions nor relics of folklore, but living hieroglyphs, marks of how we negotiate uncertainty today.’

Lovers Gambit by Ryan Falzon

For those who can’t make it to Milan, a viewing room will be available on youngarthunters.com, allowing the public to explore the works online even after the exhibition closes. Arcana in Milan also sets the stage for Ryan’s upcoming solo exhibition at Spazju Kreattiv in May 2026, continuing the themes and visual explorations introduced in Milan.

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