Antony Micallef is a British contemporary artist and painter working in London. He appeared on the British art scene after being a prize winner of the

BP Portrait Award The BP Portrait Award was an annual portraiture competition held at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England. It is the successor to the John Player Portrait Award. It is the most important portrait prize in the world, and is reputedly ...

competition. Since then, his mix of political imagery fused with

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...

expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

has won him worldwide acclaim. Recent exhibitions include group shows at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

and the

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...

. His paintings examine the contemporary relationship with consumerism and branding among other themes. His work concerns itself with what he sees as the "frivolities" of pop culture in a process that has been dubbed "critical pop".

Art

A graduate in

Fine Arts In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creativity, creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function ...

from the

University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

, Micallef's practice has been summarized as 'critical pop', exposing the darker side of our consumerist society and the

human condition The human condition can be defined as the characteristics and key events of human life, including birth, learning, emotion, aspiration, reason, morality, conflict, and death. This is a very broad topic that has been and continues to be pondered ...

. His use of neutral colors and depictions of the human form delve beyond

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

and bring to the surface many of the things that operate underneath the cultural construct. Aspects of Micallef's work examines our dichotomous relationship with

consumerism Consumerism is a socio-cultural and economic phenomenon that is typical of industrialized societies. It is characterized by the continuous acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing quantities. In contemporary consumer society, the ...

, questioning how we can despise multi-national brands yet still allow ourselves to be seduced by them. He frequently uses the union of two opposites to make an intriguing chemistry. His painting style has been compared to

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...

and is seen as an

amalgamation Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan ama ...

of influences from the old masters such as

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

and Velázquez to more modern contemporary photographers and

graphic artists A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming l ...

. His depiction of the human body and mark making echo his teachings from John Virtue, a former student of

Frank Auerbach Frank Helmut Auerbach (29 April 1931 – 11 November 2024) was a German-born British painter. Born in Germany to Jewish parents, he became a naturalised British subject in 1947. He is considered one of the leading names in the School of Lo ...

. The rawness of expressionistic

painterly Painterliness is a concept based on ' ('painterly'), a word popularized by Swiss art historian Heinrich Wölfflin (1864–1945) to help focus, enrich and standardize the terms being used by art historians of his time to characterize Work of ...

marks work in stark contrast to the more graphic elements which surface throughout his work. In ''Raw Intent,'' a 2016 series of self-portraits, Micallef moved his focus away from social critique and more toward depicting emotion, saying, "This body of work I’m making now is really about being human." From 18 June 2007

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

catalogue: In 2012, to accompany the ''AKA Peace Exhibition'' at the

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...

(ICA), Art Below showcased selected works from the ''AKA Peace'' series on the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

including Micallef's. "AKA Peace," originally conceived by photographer Bran Symondson and now curated by artist Jake Chapman, was an exhibition of new works made for The Peace One Day Project 2012, bringing together a group of Contemporary Artists, all of whom agreed to transform a decommissioned

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...

assault rifle, refashioning it into works of art.

Penguin Books cover

In 2017, Micallef had his work selected for the cover of Penguin Books' edition of ''The Outsider'' by

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the s ...

. Peter Gabriel In 2023, one of Micallef's paintings, "a small painting of what I think love looks like", was selected by

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

to be the cover art for the song " Love Can Heal", the ninth single off his album i/o. On tour, during the performance of the song, strong visual imagery of this painting was used on screens.

Social media

Micallef embraces social media and its ability to showcase his artwork to the masses, but he is also highly critical of the highly curated version of life portrayed on most social platforms.

Controversy

London Underground had commissioned Micallef for a piece of artwork to depict one of the

stations of the cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

however in the last minute became subject to censorship for the use of the tagline 'kill your idol' found in the artwork. ''"To my dismay I found out at the last minute the London Underground have decided to pull the piece from the show apparently because of the title ‘Kill your idol’ in the middle of the panel in the painting

' Micallef's most recent controversial piece is the political satire of Donald Trump using cigarette packets as his canvas, rendering the at that time Republican nominee on the front of a cigarette packet bearing the now familiar "Smoking kills" tagline. Micallef intends to highlight the threat that Trump poses to society. As he explains, ''"I thought a warning sign of the imminent danger of a narcissistic sociopath fitted aptly into the concept."'' having been displayed as part of the group show the controversial 'Why I Want To Fuck Donald Trump' exhibition at New York's Joshua Liner Gallery in 2016. Micallef's Trump pieces were used for both the protest marches In L.A and In Washington D.C for the Women's March after the inauguration of the 45th President. The image had also been used for a Placebo concert in Mexico in 2017, again in protest at the new president. Also, a fake news story image of the 43rd President George Bush painting the image had gone viral and used in the publication of ''

The Big Issue ''The Big Issue'' is a United Kingdom–based street newspaper founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991 and published in four continents. ''The Big Issue'' is one of the UK's leading social businesses and exists to offer ho ...

.''

Critical reception

Paul Moorhouse the head of collection displays (Victorian to contemporary) and senior curator 20th-century collections at the

national portrait gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

essay '''The Brutality of Appearance: Antony Micallef’s Self-Portraits','' explores the physicality, the fleshliness and violence of Micallef's work, ''"While maintaining an illusionistic intimation of space and background, his portraits present a figure as if it has been subjected to an intense traum

' all the while contextulising him within the canon of art history and the painted portrait. In 2011 a piece by Andrew Perry for Telegraph said ''"Antony Micallef’s riotous paintings are a gleeful attack on consumerism."'' Also calling Antony "''one of Britain’s most electrifying young painters".'' In a piece by editor Dylan Jones of GQ Magazine, GQ magazine in 2015 Antony is hailed to ''"change the face of modern portraiture".'''' ''the piece describes Antony and his work as raw and painterly giving particular praise to the honesty of his portraits and the connection between him and the painter

stating, ''"Surely if there is a man to whom Auerbach should pass his torch then it is Micallef".''

Artist statement

Solo exhibitions

* 2016, Pearl Lam, Raw Intent, Pedder Building Space, Hong Kong, China * 2015, Lazarides, Self, Rathbourne, London, UK * 2012, Lazarides, A Little Piece of Me, The Outsiders London, UK * 2011, Lazarides, Happy Deep Inside My Heart, Rathbourne, London, UK * 2009, Lazarides, Becoming Animal, Rathbourne, London, UK * 2007, Lazarides, Impure Idols, Los Angeles, USA * 2006, Lazarides, It's A Wonderful World, London, UK * 2006, Eyestorm, Antony Micallef, Milian, Italy * 2005, National Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria

Selected group exhibitions

* 2017, Art Busan, Korea * 2017, Nottingham Castle Museum, Reportrait, Nottingham, UK * 2017, Pearl Lam, Art Brussels, Belgium * 2017, Pearl Lam, Art Basel, Hong Kong, China * 2017, Pearl Lam, Art stage, Singapore, Malaysia * 2016, Pearl Lam, Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, Shanghai, China * 2016, Joshua Liner Gallery, Why I Want to Fuck Donald Trump, New York, USA * 2016, Pearl Lam, Art stage, Jakarta, Indonesia * 2016, Royal College of Art, Secret Postcard Exhibition, (charity supporting younger artists) UK * 2016, Pearl Lam, Art Basel, Hong Kong, China * 2016, Pearl Lam, Art stage Singapore, Malaysia * 2015, Pearl Lam, Art Seoul, South Korea * 2015, Pearl Lam, Expo Chicago, USA * 2015, Pearl Lam, Sydney Contemporary, Australia * 2015, Pearl Lam, West Bund Art Centre, Shanghai, China * 2015, Pearl Lam, Harpers Bazaar Indonesia Art Fair, Jakarta, Indonesia * 2014, Royal Academy, Royal Academy Summer Show, London, UK * 2014, Kill your Idol, St Marylebone Parish Church, London, UK * 2014, Dallas Contemporary, MTV RE:DEFINE, Goss Micheal Foundation, Dallas, USA * 2014, Lazarides, Art14 London, London, UK * 2013, Copelouzos Familay Art Museum, Athens, Greece * 2013, National Museum of Warsaw, Nowa Sztuka, Poland * 2013, Saatchi Gallery, Artwars, London, UK * 2012, Lazarides, Pop-up, The Old Vic Tunnels, Bedlam, London, UK * 2012, The Institute of Contemporary Arts, Peace One Day, London, UK * 2011, Bertrand & Gruner, Cabinet de Curiosities, Geneva, Switzerland * 2011, Lazarides Pop-up, Old Vic Tunnels, Minotaur, London, UK * 2010, Lazarides, Hells Half Acre Show, Old Vic Tunnels, London, UK * 2010, Lazarides, Eurotrash, Los Angeles, USA * 2009, Tunnel 228, London, UK
Antony Micallef participates in Tunnel 228, a show featuring over 20 artists and the theatre company Punchdrunk. A

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

-inspired exhibition with a mixture of art and live performance by actors. Located in the tunnels off Leake Street underneath Waterloo station and directed by

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. Known for Kevin Spacey on screen and stage, his work on stage and screen, he List of awards and nominations received by Kevin Spacey, has received numerous accolades, including two ...

. * 2009, UN and Roddick Foundation, Journey, Washington Place, New York, USA * 2009, Lazarides, Grow Up, London, UK * 2008 -2009, Tate Britain, London, UK
Antony Micallef along with

Paula Rego Dame Maria Paula Figueiroa Rego (: 26 January 1935 – 8 June 2022) was a Portuguese visual artist, widely considered the pre-eminent woman artist of the late 20th and early 21st century, known particularly for her paintings and prints based o ...

and Mark Hearld were invited to take part in the 50th anniversary celebration of the famous Curwen Studios. To commemorate the occasion they exhibited a special limited edition

lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

print in the

(Goodison Room). * 2008, The Royal Academy GSK Contemporary, London, UK
Antony Micallef was invited by the RA to take part in a group show showcasing new contemporary artists. Displaying 4 bronze nickel-plated 13 ft sculptures in the forecourt (Burlington Gardens). Parasite. Also displaying three meter square paintings inside the academy. * 2008, Lazarides Pop-up, The Outsiders New York, New York, USA * 2008, The Outsiders, Outsiders, London, UK * 2007, Santa's Ghetto Bethlehem, Manger Square, Palestine
Micallef participated in Santa's Ghetto in

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

, a group show with over 30 international artists that raised almost $1 million to provide funding for local students attending Dar a-Kalima College, the only dedicated arts university in the Middle East. From this exhibition Micallef produced a body of work documenting his time spent behind the wall. * 2006, Arcuate Arte Contemporaneo, Another Fucking Collective, Mexico * 2006, National Portrait Gallery, Mystery Portrait Exhibition, London, UK * 2005, ManHan Gallery, 44 Boards: Human Rights Coalition, Ohio, USA * 2005, Alphabet Gallery, How I learned to Stop Working and Love the Bomb, London, UK * 2005, Millenaris Park, Budapest, Hungary
Micallef represented the UK in an international exhibition looking at urban

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...

. Micallef was invited by the directors of Millenaris Park, a government-funded arts organization to paint on a

Trabant Trabant () is a series of B-segment, small cars produced from 1957 until 1991 by former East Germany, East German car manufacturer HQM Sachsenring GmbH, VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau. Four models were made: the Trabant P 50, Trabant 50 ...

car, the icon of the

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

era. * 2006, 'Eyestorm', Milan, Italy
Antony Micallef presents a sell-out solo exhibition in the heart of

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. The exhibition showcases a series of specially commissioned limited edition

prints. As well as being exhibited in Milan the prints were also on show at the

British Embassy This is a list of diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, excluding honorary consulates. The UK has one of the largest global networks of diplomatic missions. UK diplomatic missions to capitals of other Co ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

alongside

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist and art collector. He was one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingdom's richest ...

, Peter Blake, and

Richard Davidson Richard J. Davidson (born December 12, 1951) is an American psychologist and professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison as well as founder and chair of the Center for Healthy Minds and the affiliated non-prof ...

. * 2004, A.D Gallery, California, USA * 2000, The National Portrait Gallery, London, UK
Antony Micallef wins second prize in the

competition the first time he enters. This is seen as the catalyst for his future career.

References

External links

Scholarly articles

Paul Moorehouse, ''The Brutality of Appearance: Antony Micallef’s Self-Portraits'.''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Micallef, Antony 1975 births Living people 20th-century English painters 21st-century English painters Alumni of the University of Plymouth English male painters People from Swindon 20th-century English male artists 21st-century English male artists