Antony Micallef

I was first introduced to Antony Micallef in an article in The Face (rip) whilst i was doing my GCSE's, I then based much of my exam work on him and never really got over it.
He used to be a graphic designer, which is something you can tell through his use of block colour and shapes, he is also very much influenced by Japan, which much of his work refers to: the common brand logos appear in his work, the bubblegum culture references, but something i really like is the paradox this has with the subjects he likes to tackle. He paints the bubblegum pop culture, with the seedier undercurrents, creating a kind of 'visual friction', it has a complete truth to it, most big brands and countries have their more sinister sides.