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 in Glarus (2024); Last Words, with Richard Hoeck, at Magazin 4 in Bregenz (2023);New Horizon at Meliksetian Briggs Gallery in Texas (2023); Imaginary Interventions at Various Small Fires in Seoul (2023); Think, and then think again (with Gina Folly) at Sgomento in Zurich (2022); Egocentric Preserves at Galerie Johann Widauer in Innsbruck (2021); An Elixir of Immortality at the Schinkel Pavillon in Berlin (2020);Mannequin Trilogy at 80 WSE in New York (2019); Comedy of Manners at the Museum Im Bellpark Kriens in 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 in Rome(2023); Pictures & After at MAMCO in Geneva (2023); Coming Attractions: The John Waters Collection at The Baltimore Museum of Art in Baltimore (2022); MIRROR MIRROR - Fashion & the Psyche at MoMu in Antwerp (2022); Inventaire at MAMCO in Geneva (2021);Everything Is Connected: Art and Conspiracy at The Met Breuer in New York (2018); Candy Factory Projects 2017, with Takuji Kogo, at the Private Museum in Singapore (2017); Painting 2.0, Expression in the Information Age at Brandhorst Museum in Munich (2015) and at Mumok in Vienna (2016);The St. Petersburg Paradox at the Swiss Institute of Contemporary Art in New York (2014);The Human Factor at Hayward Gallery in London (2014); Empire State (curated by N. Rosenthal & A. Gartenfeld) at Palazzo della Esposizioni in Rome (2013); Painting Forever! at the Keilrahmen Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin (2013); Carte Blanche – All of the Above at Palais de Tokyo in Paris (2011); bigminis at Le CAPC Musée d’art Contemporain de Bordeaux in Bordeaux (2010); Sonic Youth etc.: Sensational Fix at Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo in 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.