Donny Miller is one of the more interesting visual artists working today; he’s active not only in graphics and painting, but also video art, performance art, and site-specific installations. He is best known for his book Beautiful People with Beautiful Feelings(2006), which juxtaposes near-advertising images of glamorous men and women culled from clip out art with sardonic commentaries on the human condition. But there’s much more to Miller than that, as a brief tour of his work on the web illustrates. Intrigued by Miller’s take on contemporary society, and also by his turn towards more optimistic work in his recent Universe series, and other new works
Universe Series by Donny Miller
Universe Series by Donny Miller
For his “Universe” series—a refreshingly optimistic body of work and part of the artist’s efforts to diversify his oeuvre—Miller cites Damien Hirst’s constant reinvention of his practice, changing methods and mediums, as inspiration. The works display the artist’s graphic style, pairing dramatic cosmic images of stars, galaxies, and nebulas with bold white text offering positive exclamations or proverbial phrases like YES or THE FUTURE JUST HAPPENED. Miller says about the series, “the ‘Universe’ pieces sort of move beyond society, to eternal truths, like ‘the lesson repeats as needed.’ It’s really true; you need more than one lesson, and you get more than one lesson.” This emphasis on eternal truths lends itself well to the astral settings of the works, metaphors for limitless opportunity and the future.
Artwork

It Doesn’t Really Matter by Donny Miller
It Doesn’t Really Matter by Donny Miller

The Future Just Happened by Donny Miller
The Future Just Happened by Donny Miller

Forever Isn’t Long Enough by Donny Miller
Forever Isn’t Long Enough by Donny Miller

Forever by Donny Miller
Forever by Donny Miller

Love by Donny Miller
Love by Donny Miller

Free From The Bondage by Donny Miller
Free From The Bondage by Donny Miller

An Ignorant Man Needs No Proof by Donny Miller
An Ignorant Man Needs No Proof by Donny Miller

Human Nature Replays Itself by Donny Miller
Human Nature Replays Itself by Donny Miller

The End by Donny Miller
The End by Donny Miller

Evolution by Donny Miller
Evolution by Donny Miller

Reality Can Be Convincing by Donny Miller
Reality Can Be Convincing by Donny Miller

Poison by Donny Miller
Poison by Donny Miller

Memory Serves or Destroys by Donny Miller
Memory Serves or Destroys by Donny Miller

That’s All Folks by Donny Miller
That’s All Folks by Donny Miller

Overcome Yourself by Donny Miller
Overcome Yourself by Donny Miller

Death and Meaning by Donny Miller
Death and Meaning by Donny Miller

I Know You’re There by Donny Miller
I Know You’re There by Donny Miller

Believe in Anything by Donny Miller
Believe in Anything by Donny Miller

Fantasies by Donny Miller
Fantasies by Donny Miller

Convenience by Donny Miller
Convenience by Donny Miller

Begin Again by Donny Miller
Begin Again by Donny Miller

It Only Seems Random by Donny Miller
It Only Seems Random by Donny Miller

Dark Ages by Donny Miller
Dark Ages by Donny Miller

The Right Day by Donny Miller
The Right Day by Donny Miller

Different by Donny Miller
Different by Donny Miller

You are Everything by Donny Miller
You are Everything by Donny Miller

Diamond by Donny Miller
Diamond by Donny Miller

The Lesson by Donny Miller
The Lesson by Donny Miller

You always were by Donny Miller
You always were by Donny Miller

Power without Wisdom by Donny Miller
Power without Wisdom by Donny Miller

Hollywood by Donny Miller
Hollywood by Donny Miller

God by Donny Miller
God by Donny Miller

The End by Donny Miller
The End by Donny Miller

Strange Animals by Donny Miller
Strange Animals by Donny Miller

Stoneage by Donny Miller
Stoneage by Donny Miller

Todayland by Donny Miller
Todayland by Donny Miller

Yes by Donny Miller
Yes by Donny Miller

Time is Man Made by Donny Miller
Time is Man Made by Donny Miller

Now by Donny Miller
Now by Donny Miller

Pain is the Birth of Wisdom by Donny Miller
Pain is the Birth of Wisdom by Donny Miller
