Charles Malinsky Bio
Charles Malinsky is an internationally acclaimed Canadian painter. His art has been featured in many international journals and publications. Malinsky’s paintings and drawings have been featured in numerous solo and major group exhibitions, and is represented in many prestigious private, museum, and corporate collections. These include: Fundació de les Arts i els Artistes, Barcelona, Spain (5 works); the Collection of the Victoria College of Art, Victoria British Colombia, Canada; Nickel Arts Museum, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Michael Williams Collection, University of Victoria, Victoria , British Colombia, Canada (18 works); the Permanent Collection of the Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Colombia, Canada; the Seymour Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His work can also be found in the private collections of notable celebrities such as Dr. Dre, Phil Everly, Fred Durst, Vin Diesel, David Caruso and others. The extraordinary achievements of his career have made him of one of the most dynamic figurative painters working in the 21st century.
Malinsky was born in 1956 in Yorkton, Saskatchewan and grew up in the isolation of the vast Canadian prairies. He earned his diploma from the Alberta College of Art and Design 1978. He spent his early professional years in Calgary as a graphic designer in educational television, winning a number of international awards for the small, obscure station. Malinsky states, “The sheer good fortune — to be taken under the wing of a small group of the most talented and creative individuals I have encountered in my entire life, including Greg and Gary Crossley, Brian Huffman, John Blackie and Peter Ivens — was a revelatory experiences for me.” In 1984, he took a posting at the Alberta College of Art and Design, where he taught drawing. It was at this point that Malinsky changed streams, devoting himself to the creation of pure art. It took seven years of dedicated studio work for him to find his voice as an artist. His first pubic exhibition at the Fran Willis Gallery in Victoria, British Colombia created a media sensation, and garnered wide public attention.
Malinsky’s richly complex, layered, visual narratives are emotionally clear and accessible. His suburban prairie upbringing provided him with a backdrop of physical and social isolation, and his early work became focused on the rift between what was experienced and what could not be said. Malinsky’s first exhibitions took place in the early 90s, during a time when figurative painting was not considered a legitimate, cutting edge genre for art. His approach flew in the face of the self-created, intellectual elitism of the de-constructivist movement of the time. He first received critical attention for depicting the dark, disturbing undercurrents of mainstream life, eloquently communicated to a popular reception through his figurative approach. After living for ten years in Madrid, Spain, Charles Malinsky has recently returned to Canada.
“Of all the world’s warriors, artists are still the most noble and free.” anonymous South African poet.
When I lived in Spain, the horrors of the Franco years were just beginning to be talked about. For years after the dictator’s death, these events had been a taboo subject. One of the aspects of his reign that emerged was the role that artists played in the failed revolution. Every artist that I met of the previous generation had spent time in prison; some had been tortured. Artists were particularly feared by the fascists; they had the power, and the voice, to speak compellingly against the brutal regime.
In a more haphazard, intuitive way, I have been trying to be that kind of artist – to lend my talent and my voice to the causes of reason and civility. The quality in art that I most admire is the kind of harmony and clarity that touches deep in the soul. This is what I am compelled to deliver through my images. My experiences in Spain were not responsible for setting me on this course, but they did provide a tangible, historic context around what I had always felt was my duty as an artist — to speak of the things we are not allowed to utter and provide lightning rods for collective feelings of anger, despair, and disgust. The subjects of, and audience for, my work are universal; I privilege no particular age, no gender, and no social strata. Perhaps because of its universal message, my work hangs in the boardrooms of international business conglomerates and the studios of iconic musicians. But what I am most proud of is the affection that the under-represented, disenfranchised and disaffected have for my art.
I feel that my ability to communicate with the collective zeitgeist through pictures comes with a responsibility to speak up, and speak out. My passion for picture making is grounded in this desire to engage the deepest currents driving our culture and society today – forces rooted in history, spiritual identity, and belief. I had the good fortune, early in my development as an artist, to understand that my talent for representation was a potent device with which to address cultural ideas, ideologies, and dogmas. As an artist, I can present ideas that go against the canon, with deconstructive methods our most trusted institutions are unable, and unwilling, to embrace. My iconographic lexicon is at once clear and complex; my exclusive use of a black and white palette in my drawings and paintings is conceived to focus the work – to bring the maximum attention to the figurative form, compositional design, and gestural choreographies of each visual narrative. My reductive technique not only provides atmospheric dynamics, but also represents the erosion of our physical world.
Charles Malinsky CV
SOLO EXHIBITIONS (Most Recent)
2016 THE FINAL JOURNEY Artworld Fine Art, Toronto, Ontario Canada
2015 THE JOURNEY CONTINUES. Artworld Fine Art, Toronto, Ontario Canada
2013 SWEET DISORDER Winchester Galleries, Victoria, B.C. Canada
2011 COLOR VERSUS BLANCO/NEGRO Pablo Aizoiala versus Charles Malinsky – Two Person Exhibition -Xanon Galería de Arte, Bilbao, Spain
2009 CHARLES MALINSKY, Pintura – Xanon Galería de Arte, Bilbao, Spain
A RITUAL ESCAPE Galería Martínez Glera, Logroño, La Rioja, Spain
2008 BLACKHEATH GALLERY FALL EXHIBITION 2008, Feature Artist, Blackheath Gallery, London, England
IF ONLY THE TIMES THAT HAVE COME AND GONE MIGHT COME AGAIN, Herringer Kiss Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
2007 BLACKHEATH GALLERY SPRING EXHIBITION 2007, Featured Artist, Blackheath Gallery, London, England
2006 DISGUISE AS REBELLION Glass Garage Gallery of Fine Art, W. Hollywood, CA.
THE JOURNEY – WE’LL MEET AGAIN Herringer Kiss Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
2005 THE FINAL JOURNEY – CROSSING THE CORRIDOR Xanon Galería de Arte, Madrid, Spain
BLACK CIRCUS, Selections, Silos Gallery, Tarifa, Spain
FLESH AND BONE, Two Person Exhibition of Malinsky Paintings (Flesh) and Stephan
Bircher Sculptures (Bone), Fran Willis Gallery, Victoria, B.C. Canada
BLACK CIRCUS, Selections, Featured Artist Blackheath Gallery, London, England
THE FINAL JOURNEY, Selections Galería Martínez Glera, Logroño, La Rioja, Spain
2004 THE FINAL JOURNEY Xanon Galería de Arte, Madrid, Spain
2003 FRAGMENTS Art is Vital Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
NEW WORK Goerz Gallery of Fine Art, Luxembourg
2002 PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS 2000 – 2002 Art is Vital Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2001 BLACK CIRCUS Absolute Art Gallery, Knokke, Belgium
BLACK CIRCUS DRAWINGS Accento Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2000 BLACK CIRCUS: Carnival of the Night part II Glass Garage Gallery, West Hollywood, California
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (Recent)
2021 BLACK AND WHITE – The Collectors’ Gallery of Art, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2020 SUMMER SIZZLER – The Collectors’ Gallery of Art, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2018 GO FIGURE – The Collectors’ Gallery of Art, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2015 COLLECTORS CHOICE – Winchester Galleries, Victoria, B.C.
GRAYSCALE WONDERLAND – Glass Garage Gallery in association with bG Gallery , Bergamot Station Arts Centre, Santa Monica, California
2012 BLACK & WHITE – The Collectors’ Gallery of Art, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Summer Exhibition – Blackheath Gallery, London, England
2011 Autumn Exhibition – “Figuratively Speaking”, Blackheath Gallery, London, England
2009/2010 FRESH PAINT – An Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition
2009 The Figure Blackheath Gallery, London England
2008 CHRISTMAS 2008 Blackheath Gallery, London, England
The Year of the Chimera 4.0 Glass Garage Gallery, W. Hollywood, California
2007 CHRISTMAS Blackheath Gallery, London, England
THE YEAR OF THE CHIMERA 3.1 – Treasures from the Exotic Far West Glass Garage, Gallery, W. Hollywood, California
2006 CHRISTMAS 2006 Blackheath Gallery, London, England
“BLANCO/NEGRO”, Exposición Collectiva, Xanon Galería de Arte, Bilbao, Spain
YEAR OF THE CHIMERA 2.0, A Group Show Featuring Surrealists and Surrealist Sympathizers, Glass Garage Gallery, West Hollywood, California
2005 CHRISTMAS SHOWCASE OF GALLERY ARTISTS Fran Willis Gallery, Victoria BC, Canada
PEQUEÑOS FORMATOS Galería Martínez Glera, Logroño, La Rioja, Spain
CHRISTMAS 2005, Blackheath Gallery, London, England
2006 YEAR OF THE CHIMERA, preview of 2006 exhibitions and memorial for gallery Founder Warwick Sims, Glass Garage Gallery, West Hollywood, California
HK SUMMER 05 GROUP SHOW Herringer Kiss Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
SUMMER SELECTIONS, Fran Willis Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
VENICE EXHIBITION, Blackheath Gallery, London, England
COLECTIVA DE PINTURA, ESCULTURA Y DIBUJOS, Galeria Martínez Glera, Logroño, La Rioja, Spain
ARTENDENS, Bruges, Belgium (Absolute Art Gallery, Bruges)
2004 CHRISTMAS 2004, Blackheath Gallery, London, England
CHRISTMAS GROUP EXHIBITION, Fran Willis Gallery, Victoria, B.C., Canada
SUMMER SELECTIONS, Fran Willis Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, Salon Exhibition, Gallery Artists, Art is Vital, Calgary, AB, Canada
2003 RAVEN/SHAPESHIFTER, A collaboration of vocal performance, art, dance, and multimedia (a tribute and benefit for Hospice) Fran Willis Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
TEN, Art is Vital, Calgary, AB, Canada
SUMMER SELECTIONS I, Fran Willis Gallery, Victoria, BC, Canada
EROTICA-EXOTICA, Glass Garage Gallery, West Hollywood, California
METAPHYSICAL, Art is Vital Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2002 SUMMER SELECTIONS, Fran Willis Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
AUGUST GALLERY ARTISTS’ EXHIBITION, Fran Willis Gallery, Victoria, BC, Canada
2001 SUMMER SELECTIONS, Fran Willis Gallery, Victoria, BC, Canada
8th ANNUAL REALISM INVITATIONAL SHOW, Van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
THE HUMAN PLANE, Glass Garage Gallery, West Hollywood, California
2000 BLACK CIRCUS EXHIBITION, Fran Willis Gallery, Victoria, BC, Canada
REAL ILLUSIONS, 7th ANNUAL REALISM INVITATIONAL SHOW, Van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
SUMMER SELECTIONS, Fran Willis Gallery, Victoria, BC, Canada
WORKS ON PAPER EXHIBITION, Van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
MUSEUM and PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS
2009 Fresh Paint – a Travelling Exhibition sponsored and Curated by the Alberta Society of Artists
2008 WESTWARD HA! VISUAL ART IN THE WILD WEST, Triangle Gallery, Curated by Nicholas Roukes and Reinhard Skoracki, Calgary, AB, Canada
BORDERLANDS: liminal territories of the heart and mind Brad Pasutti, Charles Malinsky, and Ken Flett exhibit narrative paintings focusing on the human condition, using shifting treatments of space, time, and memory. Legacy Art Gallery, Victoria, B.C. Canada
2007 MICHAEL’S WORLD: A Generation of Studio Artists in Old Town Victoria, Legacy Art Gallery and Cafe, (Selections from the Michael Williams Collection), Victoria, BC., Canada
2004 HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MALTWOOD, Maltwood Art Museum & Gallery, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC., Canada
2004 THE WILLIAMS LEGACY, CONTEMPORARY ART OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, Pendulum Gallery, Vancouver, BC., Canada
2003 THE WILLIAMS LEGACY, CONTEMPORARY ART OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST (catalogue), Maltwood Art Museum & Gallery, University of Victoria, and Fran Willis Gallery Victoria, BC., Canada
ART FAIRS
2012 Art FaCTory 02, Catania, Sicilia, Italy (Xanon Galería de Arte)
2011 St-Art 2011, Strasbourg Art, Strasbourg France, (Xanon Galería de Arte)
2010 ART MADRID, Salon de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo, & (Xanon Galería de Arte) Madrid, Spain
2009 ART MADRID, Salon de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo, & (Xanon Galería de Arte) Madrid, Spain
FIARTE VALENCIA (Xanon Galería de Arte)
FERIA VIGO, Vigo, Spain (Xanon Galería de Arte)
2008 ART MADRID, Salon de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo & (Xanon Galería de Arte)
2007 ART MADRID, Salon de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo & (Xanon Galería de Arte) (Catalogue)
ART MIAMI, Miami, Florida, USA (Xanon Galería de Arte) (Catalogue)
2006 ART MADRID, Salon de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo Madrid, Spain (Xanon Galería de Arte)
Catalogue
2005 SALON DES ANTIQUAIRES ET GALERIES DE BIARRITZ, France (Galería Martínez Glera)
ARTESANTANDER 2005 (Xanon Galería de Arte), Santander, Cantabria, Spain
2004 ARTESANTANDER (Xanon Galería de Arte), Santander, Cantabria, Spain
2001 LINEART, Ghent, Belgium (catalogue)
2000 LINEART, Ghent, Belgium (catalogue)
ART 21, Las Vegas, Nevada (catalogue)
MAJOR COLLECTIONS
Fundació de les Arts i els Artistes, Barcelona, Spain (5 works)
Collection of The Victoria College of Art, Victoria, BC., Canada
Nickle Arts Museum, Calgary, AB, Canada
Michael Williams’ Collection, University of Victoria, BC, Canada (18 works)
Permanent Collection of The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Edmonton, AB, Canada
AWARDS
Saskatchewan Arts Board Grant 2009
Short Listed for the First Figurative Painting Competition (I Concurso de Pintura Figurativa)
organized by Fundació de les Arts I els Artistes, Barcelona, Spain
Malinsky has been designated a cultural property of Canada
Competition Winner – Soho Art Competition #10, Ariel Gallery, New York
Certificate of Excellence – Soho Art Competition #7, Ariel Gallery, New York
Certificate of Excellence – Soho Art Competition Winter ‘92, New York
Certificate of Excellence Art Affiliates 1991 International Art Competition, Ariel Gallery, New York
TEACHING
1985 – 1998 Instructor, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, AB., Canada (www.acad.ab.ca)
Instructor in Visual Communications and specializing in Figure Drawing, Anatomy and Illustration
EDUCATION
Completed First Year Course Work in the Fine Arts Program, University of Regina, Sask., Canada
Graduated from Alberta College of Art and Design, 1978, Major in Visual Communications
Illustrators Workshop, New York, summer 1978
High Focus Drawing Workshop, School of Visual Art, New York, summer 1989
MEDIA COVERAGE AND INTERVIEWS (Selections)
2007 Summer CIMAISE – Ceci est un magazine d’art 54° année. No. 286. June – August, Paris, France
2007 March BLACKHEATH VILLAGE MAGAZINE, Spring, London, England
Cover Story “Exploring Purgatory” by Amber Windsor
2006 Sept. GALLERIES WEST ON-LINE, “Charles Malinsky: The Journey – We’ll Meet Again”
review of exhibition at Herringer Kiss Gallery by Wes Lafortune
2006 Television Interview, Breakfast Television, City TV, Calgary, AB, Canada, September 8,
2005 July LA MAQUINA CONTEMPORANEA, Revista de Arte y Cultura Number 4, Verano April
2005 LA RIOJA ,Martes 5 de Abril, “Narrar e Ilustrar”, by Ignacio Gil-Diéz Usandizaga March
2005 VIVIR LA RIOJA, Noticias de La Rioja, martes 29 de Marzo “El último viaje de Malinsky”,
by Mónica Esteban
2004 NY ARTS MAGAZINE, No. 9, Nov/Dec. Vol. 11/12 “CHARLES MALINSKY’S TRAVEL
DOCUMENTS, JOURNEYS IN DARKNESS AND LIGHT” by Yvonne Owens
LA MAQUINA CONTEMPORANEA, Revista de Arte y Cultura Number 0, Spring Primavera
2004 UNO MáS ENTRE NOSOTROS, Television Interview (Xanon Exhibition), Telemadrid April
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