CHARLES MALINSKY, "The Journey – We’ll Meet Again," Sept 9 to Oct 7, 2006, Herringer-Kiss Gallery, Calgary

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"The man and the mistress of the crossroads"

Charles Malinsky, "The man and the mistress of the crossroads," 2006, Oil on Canvas, 102cm x 76cm.

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"We will simply travel beyond the need to explain"

Charles Malinsky, "We will simply travel beyond the need to explain," 2006, Oil on Canvas, 118cm x 110cm.

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"The man and the mistress of the crossroads"

Charles Malinsky, "The man and the mistress of the crossroads," 2006, Oil on Canvas, 102cm x 76cm.

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CHARLES MALINSKY, The Journey – We’ll Meet Again

Herringer-Kiss Gallery, Calgary

Sept 9 to Oct 7, 2006

By Wes Lafortune

Painter Charles Malinsky is on a spectacular journey. From his birthplace in Canada to his adopted home in Spain, Malinsky weaves tales using figures that at one moment seem familiar, and then suddenly evade us like apparitions disappearing into thin air.

Malinsky’s first Canadian exhibition of recent work is at Calgary’s Herringer Kiss Gallery. Titled The Journey – We’ll Meet Again it’s on a stylish trip, with a train station as a backdrop, where we meet a cast of characters this Saskatchewan-born painter has created as a metaphor that represents the afterlife.

Beautiful women about to board trains, lovers running off together or mysterious fedora-wearing men all complete this black and white excursion into Malinsky’s imagination.

The painting But one stands apart on a bridge to enjoy a private wish is a delicious example of how Malinsky can use the most stripped-down setting to create a scene brimming with drama.

The woman in a party dress with a couture-inspired hat sitting atop her head waits at the train station with a single suitcase set at her feet. Is her wish to flee a jealous lover? Or perhaps begin anew in a place where she will be free of the conventions heaped upon her by “polite” society?

Each is the correct answer, as Malinsky creates templates that viewers can use to apply their own narratives. Giving a firm nod to cinema and theatre, this talented painter/storyteller uses a strict black and white palette. He strips away the bulk of the extraneous elements, and the paintings become tantalizing moments of psychodrama as entertaining as any film noir masterpiece or whodunit mounted onstage.

The man and the mistress of the crossroads is another painting in this collection of 20 works. Malinsky injects action to further deepen the urgency of the scene that unfolds in front of viewers’ eyes. The man and his mistress run across the rail tracks, avoiding, by mere seconds, the locomotive that bears down on the desperate duo.

Graduating in 1978 with a diploma in Visual Communication from the Alberta College of Art and Design, Malinsky, after living in Calgary for more than two decades, set off to begin a career that would bring him international acclaim.

Thanks to past series that include Culture of the Angels andThe Black Circus—which have been exhibited and collected in locations as varied as Brussels, Germany and West Hollywood—Malinsky has achieved the status of celebrated artist on two continents.

Recognized as a master of figurative intrigue, Malinsky’s success is well-documented in North America and Europe. His most recent achievement is to be shortlisted for the First Figurative Painting Competition (I Concurso de Pintura Figurativa) organized by the Foundation of Arts and Artists in Spain.

Whether you accept Malinsky’s paintings as black and white interpretations about a world beyond ours, or merely view these works as captivating narratives, The Journey is a trip worth taking.