Luciano Micallef is a Maltese born abstract artist. He is one of most famous in Malta for abstract art & has multiple paintings all over the island.
Early life
He was born in
Birkirkara
Birkirkara (abbreviated as B'Kara) is a city in the central region of Malta. It is the second most populous on the island, with 24,356 inhabitants as of 2020. The town consists of five autonomous parishes: Saint Helen, Saint Joseph the Worker, Ou ...
,
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
on 1 November 1954.
At age 10, he started studying art privately under Maltese artist
Guzeppi Briffa,
He later attended the
Malta School of Art.
He was awarded a scholarship by the Italian government to study art at the
Accademia di Belli Arti di Firenze. He is considered a prominent Maltese artist of the 20th Century through his abstract art.
Works
Art
In 1991 he exhibited his first selection of abstract paintings in the Contemporary Hall,
National Museum of Fine Arts,
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
whilst also exhibiting as part of a collective within the same Museum but in two other locations, those of the Salon,
Auberge de Provence
Auberge de Provence ( Maltese: ''Berġa ta' Provenza'') is an auberge in Valletta, Malta. It was built in the sixteenth century to house knights of the Order of Saint John from the langue of Provence. It now houses the National Museum of Arc ...
and Ex Preti Rooms, Auberge de Provence, Malta.
In 2010 he was commissioned to execute three large works in fused glass for the Church of Divine Mercy in
San Pawl tat-targa, Malta.
Micallef has exhibited both in Malta and Overseas on numerous occasions. His exhibition space, Gallery 5 in 1996 is where he holds regular exhibitions of his works.
Micallef is known for his portrayals of leading personalities through his portraiture. He has portrayed Architect
Renzo Piano
Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City (20 ...
,
Roberto Benigni
Roberto Remigio Benigni (; born 27 October 1952) is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter and director. He gained international recognition for writing, directing and starring in the Holocaust comedy-drama film ''Life Is Beautiful'' (1997), f ...
,
Luciano Benetton
Luciano Benetton (born 13 May 1935) is an Italian billionaire businessman and one of the co-founders of Benetton Group, an Italian fashion brand. He served as the chairman of Benetton from 1978 to 2012.
Early life
Luciano Benetton was born on ...
and
Gilberto Benetton
Gilberto Benetton (19 June 1941 – 22 October 2018) was an Italian billionaire businessman, one of Europe's most influential industrialists. He was a co-founder of Benetton Group, the Italian fashion brand which he started and ran with his three ...
,
Ornella Muti
Ornella Muti (born Francesca Romana Rivelli; 9 March 1955) is an Italian actress. She made her film debut as Francesca Cimarosa in the 1970 film ''La moglie più bella.''
Early life
Muti was born in Rome to a Neapolitan journalist father and I ...
, and Maltese politicians such as
Eddie Fenech Adami
Edoardo "Eddie" Fenech Adami, (born 7 February 1934) is a Maltese politician and Nationalist politician who served as the prime minister of Malta from 1987 until 1996, and again from 1998 until 2004. Subsequently, he was the seventh president ...
and
Ugo Mifsud Bonnici
Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, (born 8 November 1932) is a Maltese politician and was the fifth president of Malta from 1994 to 1999.
Early life, education, and family
Ugo Mifsud Bonnici was born in Cospicua as the son of Professor Carmelo Mifsud Bonnic ...
.
Stamp design
Between 1984 and 1996 he was commissioned by the Government of Malta to create designs for
Maltese stamps. In 1984 he created designs to commemorate the
1984 Olympic Games held in the US, a set of Christmas stamps and designs to commemorate the 10th Anniversity of the Republic of Malta. In 1985 he designed collections to commemorate Europa - European Music Year and The 76th Anniversary of the Uprising 7 July 1919. In 1986, he designed a range of stamps in honour of Malta's leading philanthropists and the 1986 Traditional collection of Christmas Stamps. Every year from 1986 to 1991 he designed a set of stamps featuring historic Maltese Uniforms. In 1993 saw the launch of a set of stamps depicting
Scouts
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...
. He designed a set of stamps to commemorate The 100th Anniversary of the Modern Olympic Games that took place in 1996.
Graphic design and printmaking
In the early years of his career he was involved in printmaking, mainly etching and screen printing. He studied engraving at the
Accademia di Belle Arti di Perugia
The Accademia di Belle Arti di Perugia ("Academy of Fine Arts of Perugia") is a private tertiary academy of art in Perugia, in Umbria in central Italy. It is not one of the 20 official Italian state academies of fine art, but is legally recognise ...
.
Micallef has created packaging designs, book covers and event posters for
Unesco
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
and other organisations. His paintings have been featured on phone cards and credit cards of banks and telecommunication companies.
Publications
The
University of Malta
The University of Malta (, UM, formerly UOM) is a higher education institution in Malta. It offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, postgraduate master's degrees and postgraduate doctorates. It is a member of the European University Association ...
published a book about his works in 1993 edited by Maltese philosopher
Kenneth Wain entitled ''
'Luciano Micallef - A Study''
'.
Another book about Micallef's art entitled ''Abstracts'' was launched in 2006.
Over a long span of years he has collaborated with Poet
Victor Fenech to create illustrations for poem/prose publications such as ''F'Altamira'' and ''Sangraal'' with its critical studies by
Oliver Friggieri
Oliver Friggieri (27 March 194721 November 2020) was a Maltese poet, novelist, literary critic, and philosopher. He led the establishment of literary history and criticism in Maltese while teaching at the University of Malta, studying the work ...
and ''Lovesongfifty.''
In 2006 the
Bank of Valletta
Bank of Valletta plc (BOV) is a Maltese bank and financial services company headquartered in Santa Venera. It is the oldest established financial services provider in Malta and one of the largest. As of 2014, the bank had 44 branches, 6 region ...
presented a retrospective exhibition featuring 65 works of art from over thirty years of his career. A book entitled ''Luciano Micallef'' was published in conjunction with the event.
In 2019, an illustrated book by Luciano entitled ''Journey'' was published with past poems by
Victor Fenech.
References
External links
www.lucianomicallef.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Micallef, Luciano
Maltese artists
Maltese stamp designers
Abstract artists
Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze alumni