John Miller
Biography
John Miller (Cleveland, OH, 1954) lives and works in New York.
An influential conceptual artist and close contemporary of Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw and Tony Oursler, John Miller forms part of a generation of Cal Arts graduates whose work is informed by ideas of authenticity, falsity and pop-cultural aesthetic. Since the end of the 1970s, Miller has focused on the absorption of art into the everyday, a tendency that challenges the function of the author and implies the loss of the artwork’s aura.
In his extensive and multi-layered oeuvre, John Miller repeatedly counteracts the longings of Western consumer society. With his eclectic approach and his sceptic as well as ironic artistic strategy, he explores the autonomy of the work of art while examining the myth of artistic genius. The result is an intelligent and humorous commentary on identity, economy, culture and socio-political issues constantly questioning established values.
He's preparing a solo exhibition at Kunsthaus Glarus, Switzerland (scheduled for July 2024).Last year he had multiple solo exhibitions: Last Words (with Richard Hoeck) at Magazin 4 in Bregenz(Austria) , New Horizon at Meliksetian Briggs Gallery in Texas, Imaginary Interventions at Various Small Fires, in Korea.Prior to this he also did in 2022 Think, and then think again (with Gina Folly) at Sgomento in Zurich, in 2021 Egocentric Preserves at Galerie Johann Widauer in Innsbruck, in 2020 An Elixir of Immortality at the Schinkel Pavillon in Berlin, in 2019 Mannequin Trilogy at 80 WSE in New York, in 2018 Comedy of Manners at the Museum im Bellpark Kriens in Switzerland and others.
In 2011 Miller received the Wolfgang Hahn Prize, which coincided with a solo exhibition at Museum Ludwig, Cologne.
He has participated in major group exhibitions, including in Prima Persona Plurale at MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome(2023), Pictures & After at MAMCO – Musée d'art Moderne et Contemporain in Geneva (2023), Coming Attractions: The John Waters Collection at The Baltimore Museum of Art (2022); MIRROR MIRROR - Fashion & the Psyche at MoMu, Antwerp (2022), and Inventaire at MAMCO Genève (2021).
His work has also been featured in exhibitions at The Met Breuer, New York (2018); The Private Museum, Singapore (2017); Painting 2.0, Expression in the Information Age at Brandhorst Museum, Munich (2015) traveling to mumok, Vienna (2016), at the Swiss Institute of Contemporary Art, New York (2014); Hayward Gallery, London (2014); The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2013); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2012); CAPC, Bordeaux (2010/11); and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid (2010). Miller’s work was also included in the 2010 Gwangju Biennale in South Korea and in the 1991 Whitney Biennial in New York.
