Frank Mulvey
Frank Mulvey
Frank Mulvey is a Canadian artist whose work consists of charcoal drawings in custom-made welded steel frames. He is inspired by his experiences living and working in Montreal and the worn aesthetic of historical architecture. He explores these influences through the tactile nature of charcoal. Mulvey has been the recipient of numerous grants, and his work is held in many public and corporate collections, including the Canada Council Art Bank in Ottawa.
Born in Buffalo, New York, Mulvey moved to Montreal, Quebec, with his family in 1967. He obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master’s degree from Concordia University by 1987. He served as an instructor at Dawson College’s Fine Arts Department for 30 years. For 24 of those years, he also worked as an instructor in the College’s Illustration Department, and from 2010 to 2016, he was a coordinator for Dawson College’s Science Participating with Arts and Culture in Education initiative.
Mulvey’s work mainly consists of charcoal drawings, a practice which he started in the early 1980s. He almost exclusively frames these drawings in custom-made welded steel frames. The tactile quality of his drawings allows him to explore the experience of working in old commercial buildings in Montreal where he uses materials left behind by previous tenants. The historical look and feel of old Montreal has continued to inspire Mulvey throughout his career, even though he has lived in many other places since the 1980s. Currently, his work focuses on architectural and naturalistic drawings that convey themes of unity, transcendence, doubt, and desire.