CHARLES MALINSKY

by

CHARLES MALINSKY

By Jennifer MacLeod

Fantastic, erotic, powerful characters inhabit the mind and art of Charles Malinsky, a former Alberta College of Art & Design instructor now living with his wife Marilyn in Madrid, Spain.

In recent years, Malinsky's focus has been on two related series of works known as Black Circus and White Circus. In these, outrageous costumed carnival-like personalities -  based on studio sketches of Marilyn and other models - emerge from an ongoing narrative that plays with Fellini-like frenzy and vivid characterization in the artist's imagination.

Malinsky's new series, entitled Fragments, marks a return to a body of work begun almost 15 years ago. With Fragments, "my work has shifted back to the epic allegorical story of life after death," a story he says has been an ongoing, life-long process and has resulted in what he calls his "Angel" paintings. In contrast to the linear narrative approach and full-figure depictions of the Circus series, the images in Fragments are further explorations of the artist's fascination with deconstructed time; he is intrigued by the paradox inherent in the attempt to represent the progress of events through the use of static images.

Each image in Fragments is a complete and independent work of art, and can be united with the others in an unlimited variety of arrangements. "Alone, each one exists as an emotional and visual experience," says Malinsky. Through random arrangement on the gallery wall, however, each piece becomes a vital element of a community of pictures, creating a new emotional experience. "As the mind takes in the grouping, it is prompted to see the whole," says Malinsky. "Time has been deconstructed and arranged in a way that the viewer will reconstruct it in his or her own mind. This obligation to participate creates a relationship between the viewer and the painter that does not exist in conventional painting."

Since moving to Madrid in 1998, Malinsky has enjoyed increasing popularity internationally. He is represented in Brugge, Belgium, by Absolute Art Gallery, and has an exhibition in May at Goerz Gallery of Fine Art in Luxembourg. His work also appears at the Glass Garage Gallery in West Hollywood, California. Fragments runs through May at Art is Vital Gallery in Calgary. Malinsky is also represented in Canada by the Fran Willis Gallery in Victoria.