Peter Maloney was born in Western Australia. His undergraduate studies were begun at the (then) Canberra Technical College (1974-75), and completed along with postgraduate work at the Victorian College of the Arts (1976-78). He is currently a lecturer in the Painting Workshop, ANU, School of Art.
Maloney has exhibited nationally and internationally since 1981. He works across several media and as well as being a skilled painter and draughtsman, he is an accomplished filmmaker and audio artist. Exhibitions include Gone tomorrow (CMAG, 2005), Thinner in the flesh (New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale, 2005), Red eyes and sticky fingers (Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney, 2005) and New York calling (PS1, New York, 2003).
Maloney has received a number of awards including a residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (1996), CAPO Grants (2000, 2005), and an ArtsACT Grant for new work (2004).
As well as being represented in numerous private, corporate and institutional collections in Australia and overseas, his work is in the collections of the Canberra Museum and Gallery, New England Regional Art Museum, the Ipswich Art Gallery, Queensland University of Technology and Artbank.