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.

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