Michael Canney was born in Falmouth. He studied at Redruth and Penzance Schools of Art and St. Ives School of Painting under Leonard Fuller, and from 1947-51 at Goldsmiths' College School of Art in London.
In 1966 he was invited by Paul Feiler to join the West of England College of Art where he developed his constructivist interests, including the principles of mathematics and geometry.
His later one man shows included Newlyn Art Gallery in 1983, Prescote Art and Design in Edinburgh in 1984 and Belgrave Gallery in 1990. Plymouth City Art Gallery and several other public collections hold examples of his work