Volume 2 continues the journey through Dennis Spiteri’s paintings. Having brought his previous, well-ordered, geometrical universe to a conclusion he now found himself in uncharted terrain. He had to re-invent himself. After years of experimentation, he established a new imagery that was every bit as personal as the earlier work.

The hallmark of the paintings produced in the fourteen-year period that this volume surveys shows a restless spirit that is forever inventing and developing from one series to another. Spiteri is no longer content treading in the safety of a well-made road. He takes chances.

Again, the text is written by the artist, giving a very personal account of his journey through the creative process and also contains the many preliminary drawings he did for the finished paintings.

The title of this volume In Pursuit of Ecstasy is taken from the title of Dennis Spiteri’s 1990 retrospective. It was in the heightened state of being inherent in Beethoven’s music that he was able to define this ‘ecstasy’. It was the key to everything that he wanted to express in his art. Later, discovering the music of Wagner, Mahler and then Schoenberg, continued that pursuit.

About the Author.

Dennis Spiteri was born in Malta in 1948 and migrated to Australia in 1954. He completed his art studies in 1969 at the National Gallery Art School in Melbourne, Victoria and has been painting ever since. He has also written and published a novel Confronting Mephistopheles. He lives in the Highlands in country Victoria about two hours north of Melbourne, where he has built a large studio / gallery to produce and exhibit his work.