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Antony

Micallef

Antony Micallef is a British contemporary artist working in London. He was taught by renowned landscape painter John Virtue, who was in turn taught by the last of the post war painters, Frank Auerbach. His work features in collections across the world and his work has been shown in prominent institutions as The National Portrait Gallery, The Royal Academy, Tate Britain and the ICA London.

Rooting his expressionistic paintings in social commentary and self-examination, Antony Micallef is a traditional artist whose bright color sometimes belies the troubling nature of his imagery. Figures and faces emerge from Micallef’s veils of loose, abstract brushstrokes, recalling the figurative work of Francis Bacon, Brad Holland, and Ralph Steadman. Micallef derives his visual language from the Old Masters, graffiti, fashion magazines, corporate iconography, and Japanese cartoons. “The

trouble with pop image ry is that it doesn’t really go deeper than the surface,” he says. “You have to drag it down and challenge it to make it interest ing, marry contrasting emotions and motifs. The union of two oppo sites make an intrigu ing and strange chemistry

Institutions and Museums

2019 Canterbury Cathedral, Easter projections, UK 2019 Chatsworth House Arts Festival 2019 2018 MUCA Munich Museum, History of Portraits 2017 Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery UK 2014, Royal Academy, Summer Show, London UK 2013, Copelouzos Family Art Museum, Athens, Greece 2012, The Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK 2009 Royal Academy, GSK Contemporary, London UK 2009 Elton john Aids Foundation, Sculpture Garden UK 2008 Tate Britain, Goodison room, London, UK 2008 Warrington Museum and Art Gallery, UK 2006 National Portrait Gallery, London UK 2005 National Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria 2000 Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum, BP Portrait, Scotland 2000 National Portrait Gallery, BP Portrait London, UK 1998 Gjethuset Cultural Centre, Denmark 1998 Art Uk Collections. Supported by the British Arts Council.