Pieces of Poetry: The Good Stuff

JoAnne Artman Gallery
Sep 28, 2019 3:44PM

Known for his cheekily playful and vividly rendered collages, Greg Miller has experimented with visual language over the course of his studio practice. Resonating both visually and linguistically, Miller's works are a dynamic narrative force that lay bare the commonalities, as well as polarities, of perception. Adept at wordplay, Greg Miller's works are pieces of poetry, each examining the underlying foundations of imagery and text associated with American popular culture.

Greg Miller
Anything Goes, 2019
JoAnne Artman Gallery

Guiding the viewer towards new discoveries in meaning, each compositional component explores the interplay between scale, form, palette, and texture. Drawing on his Californian roots, Miller explores the connection between advertising, urban environment, and social history by fastidiously and painstakingly re-creating the look of age, grit, and time through the use of paint, collage paper and resin on canvas, painting each visual element by hand.

Referencing classic typefaces and color palettes, the result echoes both the look and feel of print advertisements. Working with the imagery of the visual detritus in all of its faded glory, Miller preserves for us the ephemeral beauty of the printed material.

Greg Miller
True, 2019
JoAnne Artman Gallery

Extending the narrative even further by the wrapping of the edges with various comic, or book materials, Miller utilizes every inch of his composition to further his storytelling. Containing sketches, dedications, and notes, Miller creates new narratives by building on the history of pop culture and media appropriation. Through juxtapositions of image and text, the inherent socio-cultural, as well as socio-political contexts, are revealed.

Greg Miller, Back detail, Outlaws, Acrylic, Collage Paper, Resin on Canvas, 70”x 45”

In his current show at JoAnne Artman Gallery, New York entitled “The Wild Bunch,” Greg Miller focuses on the theme of the Wild West and it’s influence throughout popular in American art, film, and literature. Discussing the historical progression of how the identity of the Western hero became intertwined in art forms found in public media, his collages address topics of the mythic Western hero, the damsel in distress, Western Pulp Fiction Art, and the modern vision of the Western Frontier.

Always including the phrase, "it's all one painting", on the back of his works, the repetition of the motto underscores the idea that each composition is a continuation of his visual, poetic anthology.


JoAnne Artman Gallery, Presents: “THE WILD BUNCH” FEATURING BILLY SCHENCK, GREG MILLER + AMERICA MARTIN Now on View @ JoAnne Artman Gallery 511A West 22nd St. | New York, NY 10011

Telephone: 949-510-5481 | E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.joanneartmangallery.com

JoAnne Artman Gallery