John Miller

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 has had several solo exhibitions among which The Ruin of Exchange at Kunsthaus Glarus, Glarus (2024); Imaginary Interventions at Various Small Fires, Seoul (2023); Think, and then think again (with Gina Folly) at Sgomento, Zurich (2022); An Elixir of Immortality at the Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin (2020); Mannequin Trilogy at 80 WSE, NY (2019); Comedy of Manners at the Museum Im Bellpark Kriens, Kriens (2018).
In 2011 Miller received the Wolfgang Hahn Prize, which coincided with the solo exhibition Wolfgang-Hahn-Preis at Museum Ludwig, Cologne.

He has participated in major group exhibitions, including in Prima Persona Plurale at MACRO, Rome(2023); Pictures & After at MAMCO, Geneva (2023); Coming Attractions: The John Waters Collection at The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore (2022); MIRROR MIRROR - Fashion & the Psyche at MoMu, Antwerp (2022); Inventaire at MAMCO, Geneva (2021); Everything Is Connected: Art and Conspiracy at The Met Breuer, New York (2018); Candy Factory Projects 2017, with Takuji Kogo, at the Private Museum, Singapore (2017); Painting 2.0, Expression in the Information Age at Brandhorst Museum, Munich (2015) and at Mumok, Vienna (2016); The St. Petersburg Paradox at the Swiss Institute of Contemporary Art, New York (2014); The Human Factor at Hayward Gallery, London (2014); Empire State (curated by N. Rosenthal & A. Gartenfeld) at Palazzo della Esposizioni, Rome (2013); Painting Forever! at the Keilrahmen Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2013); Carte Blanche – All of the Above at Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2011); bigminis at Le CAPC Musée d’art Contemporain de Bordeaux, Bordeaux (2010); Sonic Youth etc.: Sensational Fix at Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Madrid (2010).

Miller’s work was also included in the 2010 Gwangju Biennial in South Korea and in the 1991 Whitney Biennial in New York.