Joseph Lawrence Mallia
Maltese, born 1937
TypePerson
BiographyJoseph Lawrence Mallia (b. 1937), who attended Stella Maris College obtaining the Oxford Certificate of Education, started his art education at the young age of fourteen at the Malta Government School of Art in Valletta. Mallia became a teacher in 1950, starting his career at Ta’ Xbiex Primary School. In 1951, he started designing adverts on wrapping paper for a small printing press in South Street, Valletta. Such works were innovative and sold like hotcakes. He was also commissioned to design book covers, a popular one being Storja ta’ Malta, by Andrew F Vella, OP.
Moreover, he worked as a freelance illustrator for the local papers, producing satirical and political strip cartoons between 1953 and 1964, while also publishing illustrated storybooks for children, both locally and abroad. These include Il-Mitħna (1973), Il-Misluta (1980) and A Knight in Fancy Dress (1994). Throughout his career, Mallia produced around 10,000 illustrations for books, workbooks, charts and posters and another 15,000, including graphic representations, for the local TV station.
His style could be seen as full of movement with a derivation of constructivist-futuristic roots. It is also reminiscent of some abstract works by Kasimir Malevich, and one can also sense the elements of a ‘biomorphic abstract’ type of art. Mallia's artworks are an explosion of colour composed of various fragments of sharp pointed shapes, round edged pieces and other universalized forms. Versatility is found not only in colour but also in intricate detail of the objects found in the landscape and the natural environment and then abstracted by the artist according to the mood during the moment of creation.
Moreover, he worked as a freelance illustrator for the local papers, producing satirical and political strip cartoons between 1953 and 1964, while also publishing illustrated storybooks for children, both locally and abroad. These include Il-Mitħna (1973), Il-Misluta (1980) and A Knight in Fancy Dress (1994). Throughout his career, Mallia produced around 10,000 illustrations for books, workbooks, charts and posters and another 15,000, including graphic representations, for the local TV station.
His style could be seen as full of movement with a derivation of constructivist-futuristic roots. It is also reminiscent of some abstract works by Kasimir Malevich, and one can also sense the elements of a ‘biomorphic abstract’ type of art. Mallia's artworks are an explosion of colour composed of various fragments of sharp pointed shapes, round edged pieces and other universalized forms. Versatility is found not only in colour but also in intricate detail of the objects found in the landscape and the natural environment and then abstracted by the artist according to the mood during the moment of creation.
NationalityMaltese