~JAMES MILLER .. WAY, BEYOND THE SQUARE
left: painter JAMES MILLER in his studio, with musician DARREN WILL.
YALE MFA OPEN STUDIOS, APRIL 27-28, 2013.
unlike Yale grad students, JERRY BLACKMAN and NICHOLAS STEINDORF, whose work I had seen and followed previous to their turning up at Yale – this was the first time I was actually meeting James, and seeing his work in person.
KATE CERIGO did cover his 2 showings at 109 Gallery in Brooklyn for us, over the past year.
see: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY, 109 BROOKLYN
see: SHADOWS THROUGH A PRISM, PART I
see: SHADOWS THROUGH A PRISM, PART 3
based on those pix – I was surprised to see how much more complicated, and often more colorful his work had become.
there was also a greater sense of ‘pushing the envelope’, literally ..paint work becoming 3D. and a sense of humor . . that I didn’t get from the 109 show photos, which felt more angst-ridden, mysterious and questioning.
JAMES MILLER . .
there was a real painterly scramble / explosion . . going on at each end of the studio.
whoa.
this was not just ‘going against the grain’ – it was actually pretty ‘fun’, for all it’s serious endeavor.
pure abstract – can be well, p-r-e-t-t-y – wild !!
was it me ?
I saw … shades of … l’il Abner ?!!!!!
Orphan Annie and .. all things comics 50’s !! in the swirl of a brush.
I guess they call that .. POP ART.
but I also caught sight of more restrained pieces – that were more along the lines of the pieces that had been shown at 109 – but they were much much better. really evolved. really focused. more experimental on the one hand, but way more realized .. as well.
I really liked this one – alot. it was my fav.
it was quite subtle and left room – for thought. more so than the big collage 3-D type plastic color explosions, for me anyways.
though maybe it was just that CONTRAST .. that helped get me there.
I also found some rare humor in the pure minimal play. the lines, the interaction of the blob shapes, the teaser field of color – the drop-off / deconstruction / holes in the canvas. it was a thinking thing at play – always to be in .. motion.
I know, it’s crazy .. but it even though it’s such a ‘quiet’ painting .. it reminds me now, of those great real life .. ‘whale’ encounters at sea – that pop up on YouTube.
it was a fun mental trip / flip.
painting / nature.
which I’m sure was totally out of mind for the painter .. but connecting dots, esp ones so far out – how fun is that. the brain really .. at work, no ? yes !!
way, way beyond the .. square.
the nutshell definition, and .. meaning of: art ?
see: HUMPBACK WHALE SURPRISES KAYAKERS/YouTube
along the same lines .. I also really liked this larger canvas, too.
it was a really wild / painterly / anti-art / pure art .. narrative.
that was both obvious and not obvious. actually I would say: NOT !!
those concrete-colored upthrusts near the center, also reminded me of .. whales.
maybe the better way to phrase it is: life force. bio dynamics.
no matter who was standing .. in front of it !!
(that’s Kate and Darren in the previous photo.)
this is: designer GENEVIEVE CLIFFORD, in a jacket of her own making. n-i-c-e. really nice.
check out: GENEVIEVE CLIFFORD
back to the painting,
besides the interest it holds for James’ contemporary ‘creatives’ . . .
check out that deconstructed ‘stance’ – lower right hand corner. fun stuff.
so, could the key .. to the ‘fun’ stuff – be found on his desk ?
I know the ‘deconstruction’ – is found in the tangle of painter’s tape.
and, no. it’s not the pot of old coffee !!
TO BE . . CONTINUED !!
JAMES MILLER, YALE MFA OPEN STUDIOS. APRIL 27-28, 2013
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH