Antony Micallef (b. 1975, Swindon, UK) is a British contemporary artist working in London. He was notably taught by the austere landscape painter John Virtue, who was taught by the postwar painter Frank Auerbach.

Described as a modern expressionist, Micallef roots his work in social commentary and self-examination. Known for his visually charged figure paintings, he uses oil paint in a groundbreaking way; he is able to literally sculpt and form the paint to reconfigure the parameters of what an oil painting can be. Combined with his impasto and layering techniques, the oil paint is pushed to its extreme and blurs our reading of painting and sculpture.

Micallef’s recent paintings are created using these unique methods where the oil is changed into a material to realise a new form of physical embodiment. For example, he depicts St Longinus, the Roman soldier who pierced Christ, in such a way to actively help narrate the contradictory emotions within the character. The setting and outer layers of paint are used to frame and construct the centralised composition. Paint is turned into a material that can be weaved and mosaicked in a way that echoes the leather, armour, and different winding floral textures. Micallef loves the idea of pushing oil paint to its limits. There is something very tangible about this earthy medium that comes from minerals he finds positively intoxicating.