Antony Micallef

Antony Micallef layers his expressive canvases with swirls of impastoed paint that suggest contorted, abstracted faces in pain. His loose, exuberant brushstrokes evoke Francis Bacon’s raw, violent psychological portraits, and Micallef’s thick paint application adds dimension to his works—they’re sculptural, with paint protruding off the canvas and into the gallery space. Micallef has also produced paintings and prints inspired by Japanese cartoons. He studied with landscape painter John Virtue, who was himself a student of renowned British post-war painter Frank Auerbach. Micallef has exhibited in New York, London, Hong Kong, Berlin, and Geneva. He has participated in shows at London’s National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Academy of Arts, Tate Britain, and the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.