ALLISON MILLER Upside Down Pyramid 11 March 2021 – 24 April 2021
Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC
In May of last year, Allison Miller began drawing bold capital letters freehand on paper in black acrylic, cutting them out and photographing them in the landscape: R among banana leaves, S amidst poppies, P suspended on the branch of a copper tree. She then brought the letters back to her studio and glued them down on paper, accompanied by free mark making and strongly-colored grounds. D, A, P, Q, R, S, M, and E all appear. In earlier works, Miller used forms that might evoke worldly references in the same way we see animals and other shapes in clouds, but her paintings have never included anything so explicit or concrete as a letter of the alphabet. Such elements began creeping into her lexicon in her 2019 solo show at The Pit in Los Angeles. In that exhibition, Miller used excerpts of her mother’s handwriting, arrow icons resembling those on our computer screens, and a diagrammatic spider web. Now, in this latest body of work, representational moments are in evidence throughout, including letters, handwriting, roses, irises, a crescent moon and a spider web. The recognizable imagery that began as a trickle in 2019 gained force in early 2020 with the letters placed in nature, and is now a strong presence alongside the abstract language Miller has long established.
It is difficult these days not to see everything through the lens of the pandemic, but that viewpoint offers some insight into how the new paintings might operate. Covid-19 has denied us direct engagement with the world, and in the face of this lack, Miller’s increased use of referential forms may function to restore some sort of presence through symbolic means. The iconography in the new work speaks to circumscribed experience: a moon may be seen through the windowpane, spider webs appear in the corners of the house, and Miller’s rose is not painted perceptually, but is instead a symbol. Replete with bright, clean hues, just about every painting includes flowers in some form, whether in printed fabrics, painted images or curving lines that twist like floral tendrils. The plants that served as armatures for the handmade letters Miller photographed in May have now found pictorial incarnations. Similarly, letters and handwriting are formal objects as well as vehicles of mediation: they communicate a writer’s experience, but through the filter of language. The new paintings’ use of recognizable imagery demonstrates art’s ability not to replace the world, but to encapsulate experience and make it tangible, and thus available for remembrance, reflection and reaction.
Rendering experience tangible does not, however, make it entirely comprehensible. One of the signal qualities in Miller’s work is her use of graphic clarity to effect profound mystery. The visual elements of her paintings are crisp and unambiguous, but they never resolve into a clearly interpretable message. In fact, the works become systems for the disruption of meaning through a series of spontaneous improvisations that build each painting from start to finish. This is exemplified by “Mirror,” a pyramid of letters repeating like a code, hovering above a receding dark violet plane that suggests the mouth of a great pit, presided over by a crescent moon made from flower-printed fabric. The image is cryptic in the extreme, and compelling in equal measure. Even the shape of each canvas is slightly jarring: the paintings are trapezoids, just a bit off the rectangle. This is a shape Miller has visited before, as both an element within paintings and the geometry of the canvas itself, and it emphasizes her interest in painting as a simultaneous object and illusory window. These divergent elements are knit into a visually stable and powerful whole through Miller’s formal sensitivity and a knack for unexpected balance. With these new works, Miller strategically places us in a stream of consciousness where everything defies expectations and no definitive meaning locks into place. Continually evading definition, Miller’s paintings liberate themselves and the viewers to integrate all manner of experience, from loss and fear to joy and love. Her work opens ever outward, helping us to ponder and face our own unknown futures.
— Daniel Gerwin
Installation View, 2021 Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC
Cameo, 2021 Oil, oil stick, and acrylic on canvas 56 (height) x 45 1/2 (top width) x 58 1/2 (bottom width) in.
Cameo (detail), 2021 Oil, oil stick, and acrylic on canvas 56 (height) x 45 1/2 (top width) x 58 1/2 (bottom width) in.
Mirror, 2021 Oil stick, acrylic, and fabric on canvas 56 (height) x 45 1/2 (top width) x 58 1/2 (bottom width) in.
Mirror (detail), 2021 Oil stick, acrylic, and fabric on canvas 56 (height) x 45 1/2 (top width) x 58 1/2 (bottom width) in.
Natural, 2021 Oil stick and acrylic on canvas 56 (height) x 45 1/2 (top width) x 58 1/2 (bottom width) in.
Natural (detail), 2021 Oil stick and acrylic on canvas 56 (height) x 45 1/2 (top width) x 58 1/2 (bottom width) in.
Installation View, 2021 Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC
Violet, 2021 Oil, oil stick, acrylic, and colored pencil on canvas 56 (height) x 45 1/2 (top width) x 58 1/2 (bottom width) in.
Violet (detail), 2021 Oil, oil stick, acrylic, and colored pencil on canvas 56 (height) x 45 1/2 (top width) x 58 1/2 (bottom width) in.
Snow, 2021 Oil and acrylic on canvas 56 (height) x 45 1/2 (top width) x 58 1/2 (bottom width) in.
Snow (detail), 2021 Oil and acrylic on canvas 56 (height) x 45 1/2 (top width) x 58 1/2 (bottom width) in.
”The thing I came to admire about the shape is that it feels like you're starting with a rectangle that's in perspective and then you're physically pushing that perspective... Trapezoids have also historically been pedestals for sculptures. So, I like to think of these as the supporting player and the main protagonist, both.“ - Allison Miller
Skyscraper, 2021 Oil stick, acrylic, and ribbon on canvas 56 (height) x 45 1/2 (top width) x 58 1/2 (bottom width) in.
Skyscraper (detail), 2021 Oil stick, acrylic, and ribbon on canvas 56 (height) x 45 1/2 (top width) x 58 1/2 (bottom width) in.
BIOGRAPHY
ALLISON MILLER Born in Evanston, IL, 1974 University of California, Los Angeles, MFA, 2001 Rhode Island School of Design, BFA, 1996 Lives and Works in Los Angeles, CA SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2021 2019 2018
2016 2015
2013 2012 2011 2007 2006
“Upside Down Pyramid,” Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC “CAPRRIUS,” The Pit, Los Angeles, CA “Breakers,” Left Field, San Luis Obispo, CA “Feed Dogs,” Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC “Screen Jaw Door Arch Prism Corner Bed,” The Pit II, Los Angeles, CA “Speeds,” Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC “Shark Tank,” The Finley, Los Angeles, CA Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC ACME., Los Angeles, CA ACME., Los Angeles, CA “Paintings,” ACME., Los Angeles, CA
2015
2014
2013
GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2019
2017
2016
“Five Year Survey,” curated by Cooper Johnson, Museum of Art & History, Lancaster, CA “The Los Angeles Museum of Art (LAMOA) presents Mülheim/Ruhr and the 1970’s,” curated by Alice Könitz, Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany “The Brightsiders,” curated by Adam D. Miller, Verge Center for the Arts, Sacramento, CA “Small-Scale Painting,” COUNTY, Palm Beach, FL “We Like Explosions,” The Pit, Los Angeles, CA “Alice Könitz’ Display System #4,”
2012
Eastern Star Gallery, The Archer School, Los Angeles, CA “Lotus Eaters,” Weiss Berlin, Berlin, Germany “Plainly to Propound,” GAVLAK, Los Angeles, CA “Made by Hand,” curated by Heather Brown, Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA "Left Coast: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Art," The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA “Pictures of Everything,” curated by Dion Johnson, Harris Gallery, University of La Verne, La Verne, CA “NOW-ism: Abstraction Today,” Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH “Allison Miller: Stacy Fisher,” Weekend, Los Angeles, CA “Abstraction (Sound and Vision),” curated by Joey Kötting, Modd Madigan Gallery, California State University, Bakersfield, CA "six memos for the next…," curated by Tilo Schulz and Jorge van den Berg, Magazin 4 - Bregenzer Kunstverein, Bregenz, Austria “Painting in Place,” curated by Shamim M. Momin, organized by LAND, Farmer's and Merchant's Bank, Los Angeles, CA “Ma Prochaine Vie,” curated by Isabelle Le Normand, Courtesy Gallery, Los Angeles, CA “Made in L.A. 2012,” Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA “This Was Funny Yesterday,” CCS Gallery, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
BIOGRAPHY
ALLISON MILLER “Stone Gravy,” curated by David Pagel, Ameringer/McEnery/Yohe, NYC 2011
“Hot Paint,” Weekend, Los Angeles, CA “California Abstract Painting - 19522011,” curated by James Hayward, Woodbury University, Burbank, CA “To Live and Paint in LA,” Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA “Plain Brown Wrapper,” curated by Molly Larkey, Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA “Works of Paper,” ACME., Los Angeles, CA “softcore HARD EDGE,” curated by David Pagel and Marianne Elder, the Art Gallery of Calgary, traveled to the East and Peggy Phelps Galleries, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA “Immanent Domain - Part One and Two,” curated by Allen Tombello, Arena 1 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA “Teasers: Selected Works from the Pizzuti Collection by Women
2010
2009
Artists,” Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH “New Art for a New Century: Contemporary Acquisitions, 2000 – 2010,” Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA “Artificial Paradises,” curated by Sarah Jane Bruce, ACME., Los Angeles, CA “Meet Me Inside,” Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA “Joe Bradley, Mario Correa, Allison Miller and Alex Olson,” Redling Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA “Tables and Chairs,” curated by Jedediah Caesar and Shana Lutker, DʼAmelio Terras, NYC “A Modernist Vernacular,” Espasso, Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles, CA
“Tony Feher, Allison Miller and Mitzi Pederson,” ACME., Los Angeles, CA 2008
2007
2006
2002
2001
2000 1996
“L.A. Now,” curated by David Pagel, Las Vegas Museum of Art, Las Vegas, NV “Weekend Warrior,” Nathan Larramendy Gallery, Ojai, CA “Circle Jerks,” Monte Vista Projects, Los Angeles, CA, initiated by Brett Cody Rogers and Max Lesser “Something About Mary,” Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA “25 Bold Moves,” curated by Simon Watson and Craig Hensala, House of Campari, Venice, CA “With Pleasure, Wickedness and Finesse,” The Basement, Los Angeles, CA “Cal’s Art, Sampling California Painting,” University of North Texas Art Gallery, University of North Texas, Denton, TX “MFA Thesis Exhibition,” New Wight Gallery, University of California, Los Angeles, CA “The Big One,” Welsh-Beck Gallery, Los Angeles, CA “Two,” Benson Hall Gallery, Providence, RI
BIBLIOGRAPHY Fateman, Johanna. “Allison Miller,” The New Yorker, 2 April 2021. Butler, Sharon. “Gallery crawl: Miller, Grabner, Pincus-Whitney, Boyle, Otero, Pope.L., Nelson, Arcangel,” Two Coats of Paint, 18 March 2021. Zappas, Lindsay Preston. “Art in Isolation with Allison Miller,” Contemporary Art Review LA, 30 March 2020. Hudson, Suzanne. “Alison Miller: The Pit,”
BIOGRAPHY
ALLISON MILLER Artforum, December 2019, pp. 228-29. Staff. “Allison Miller at The Pit,” KCRW, 11 September 2019. Gerwin, Daniel. “The Soulful Standouts Amid the Fanfare of Frieze LA,” Hyperallergic, 15 February 2019. Cascone, Sarah. “Editor’s Picks: 14 Things to See in New York This Week,” artnet, 16 April 2018. Vetrocq, Marcia E., “ALLISON MILLER: Feed Dogs,” The Brooklyn Rail, 4 April 2018. Haque, Abid. “Manhattan Muse | Inside Noor Fare’s New York City Home,” Harper’s Bazaar, 22 January 2017. Poindexter, Kathryn. “Allison Miller: The Pit Gallery,” Artillery, 10 January 2017. Pagel, David. “Allison Miller: Familiar Sensation,” Gallery Magazine, 22 December 2016, #214, pp. 28-31. Gerwin, Daniel. “Clunky Beauty – Allison Miller at the Pit,” Los Angeles Review of Book, 16 December 2016. Pagel, David. “What to see in LA galleries: Street-art ethos, a mesmerizing digital canvas, wild tapestries,” Los Angeles Times, 2 December 2016. Wagley, Catherine. “The Female Cool School,” Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles, October 2016. Yau, John. “The Center Does Not Have To Hold: Allison Miller’s Recent Paintings,” Hyperallergic, 24 January 2016. Pagel, David. “Critic’s Choice: Apartment
December 2015. Staff. “Portfolio: Around the World,” Modern Painters, December 2015. Pini, Gary. “14 Must-See Art Shows Opening This Week,” Paper Magazine, 9 December 2015. Blasberg, Derek. “Noor Fares’ Modernist Manhattan Apartment,” Wall Street Journal, 14 August 2015. Wagley, Catherine. “5 Free Art Shows You Should See This Week,” LA Weekly, 29 April 2015. Hoelscher, Jason. "Pattern and Deregulation: Beauty and Non-Order in Contemporary Painting," ArtPulse, No. 17, Vol. 5, 2013, 22-25. Yau, John. “What Doesn’t Add Up Adds Up to Allison Miller’s New Paintings,” Hyperallergic, 29 September 2013. Kalina, Richard. “The Four Corners of Painting,” The Brooklyn Rail, 10 December 2012. French, Christopher. “Stone Gravy,” Artnews, October 2012, 102. Mueller, Kurt. “Made in L.A. 2012,” exhibition catalog published by Hammer Museum, LA><Art, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Summer 2012, 265, illus. 279282. Pagel, David. “Stone Gravy curated by David Pagel,” exhibition catalogue published by Ameringer, McEnery, Yohe, 2012, 28-31. Knight, Christopher. “Art Review: The Hammer
stairwell turned into public gallery? See the latest show for yourself,” Los Angeles Times, 7 January 2016. Wagley, Catherine. “Bernhardt Over Los Angeles,” Art Los Angeles Reader No. 2, January 2016, p. 6-7. Stevenson, Jonathan. “Miracle on 24th Street: Allison Miller, Odili Donald Odita, Cary Smith,”Two Coats of Paint, 23
Biennial ‘Made in L.A. 2012’ succeeds,” Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2012. Editors. “50 Next Most Collectible Artists,” Art + Auction, June 2012, 107. Harnish, Tracey. “10 Questions for Allison Miller,” Huffington Post, sec. Huffpost Arts & Culture, 2 April 2012. Yau, John. “Ways to Proceed,” Hyperallergic, 3 March 2012.
BIOGRAPHY
ALLISON MILLER Allen, Emma. “Uncanny Abstraction: Allison Miller’s many layers,” Modern Painters, February 2012, 17. Wood, Eve. “Allison Miller,” Flash Art, JulySeptember 2011, 108.
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA UBS Art Collection, NYC Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY The West Collection, Oaks, PA
Wood, Eve. “Criticsʼ Picks,” Artillery, July/August 2011. Lehrer-Graiwer, Sarah. “Allison Miller’s Visceral Idiosyncrasy,” Artslant, 9 May 2011. Nickas, Bob. “Painting Abstraction: New Elements in Abstract Painting,” New York: Phaidon Press, 2009. Lupo, Nancy. “Allison Miller,” Artslant, 20 October 2007. Khastoo, Leila. “Allison Miller,” Artkrush, 3 October 2007. Balaschak, Chris. “Allison Miller,” Frieze, 8 September 2007. Pagel, David. “Keeping Her New Works in Line,” Los Angeles Times, 28 September 2007, E19. Roth, Charlene. “Allison Miller at ACME.,” Artweek, October 2006, 16-17. Holte, Michael Ned. “Allison Miller,” Artforum, October 2006, 272-273. Pagel, David. “Painting a la sculpting, drafting,” Los Angeles Times, 4 August 2006, E28- E29. AWARDS 2014
Diebenkorn Teaching Fellowship, San Francisco Art Institute
LECTURES 2021
2020
2019 2015
2014
2013
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS Capital Group, Los Angeles, CA Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA The Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH Progressive Insurance, Mayfield Village, OH
2012
“In Conversation: Allison Miller & Daniel Gerwin,” Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, Purchase, NY (virtual) Interview with Mary-Kay Lombino, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY (virtual) Visiting Artist, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA Visiting Artist, UNLV at the Barrick Museum, Las Vegas, NV Visiting Artist, Miami University, Oxford, OH Guest Lecturer, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass, CO Visiting Artist, University of California, Riverside, CA Visiting Artist, Polytechnic School, Pasadena, CA Guest Lecturer, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA Guest Lecturer, Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, CA Guest Lecturer, California State University, Bakersfield, CA Visiting Artist, University of California, Irvine, CA Visiting Artist, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM Guest Lecturer, California State University, Fullerton, CA Visiting Artist, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT
BIOGRAPHY
ALLISON MILLER
2011
2010
2007
Guest Lecturer, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass, CO Visiting Artist, Polytechnic School, Pasadena, CA Guest Lecturer, University of California, Los Angeles, CA Guest Lecturer, Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA Guest Lecturer, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass, CO Panel/Guest Lecturer, Chaffey College, Rancho Cucamonga, CA Visiting Artist, Polytechnic School, Pasadena, CA Guest Lecturer, Pomona College, Pomona, CA Visiting Artist, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA Guest Lecturer, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA Visiting Artist, University of California, San Diego, CA Panel/Lecture/Visiting Artist, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA Visiting Artist, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA
PROJECTS 2015
2013
Works on Paper & Monoprint Series, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass, CO Lithograph Edition and Monoprint Series, Tamarind Institute, Albuquerque, NM
FELLOWSHIPS AND RESIDENCIES 2017
2015 2014
2010
Frederick Hammersley Foundation, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM Residency, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass, CO Richard Diebenkorn Teaching Fellowship, San Francisco Art Institute (Including residency at the Headlands Center for the Arts) Residency, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass, CO
ALLISON MILLER: UPSIDE DOWN PYRAMID Publication © 2021 Susan Inglett Gallery NYC All Rights Reserved Design: Liz Rudnick Introduction Text: Daniel Gerwin Photography: Robert Wedemeyer Photography Published by: SUSAN INGLETT GALLERY 522 West 24 Street New York, New York 10011 212 647 9111 | info@inglettgallery.com No image or portion thereof may be copied, reproduced or electronically stored/transmitted without permission.
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