Harland Miller Penguin Covers
Harland Miller Penguin Book Covers
In this rare display of his watercolours and drawings, Miller’s Penguin covers are closer to still life studies, rather than two-dimensional posters. Experimenting with different paper sizes and angles, he occasionally shows their spines, and the shadows they cast. It is a celebration of books as treasured objects. His drawings – in particular his studies for his large-scale oil paintings with their notes scribbled down the margins – are some of his most intimate works to date.
About the Artist
Writer and artist Harland Miller (born 1964) is known for his large-scale, playful re-workings of Penguin book covers. He explores the relationship between words and images and the process of producing meaning—in his paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media works. Interested in canonical authors like Edgar Allan Poe and Ernest Hemingway and drawing influence from Ed Ruscha, Mark Rothko, Anselm Kiefer, and Robert Rauschenberg, Miller pointedly combines text and images to comment on the frequent disconnect between representation and reality.
In 2001 Miller produced a series of paintings based of the dust jackets of Penguin books and found a way to marry aspects of Pop Art, abstraction and figurative painting with his writer’s love of text. “I remember my parents’ Penguin books. For me, they are about nostalgia for a by-gone era – that musty smell, those coffee-mug rings, the often heart-breaking inscriptions on the inside cover.” Miller has lived and worked in New York, Berlin and Paris. Born in the North of England in 1964, Miller’s fondness for the drizzle and grimness of those northern towns remains a strong theme in his work. “I suppose mine is a very English sense of humour,” he says.
Harland Miller was born in Yorkshire in 1964 and lives in London. Group exhibitions include Royal Academy, London (2006, 2005), Kunsthalle, Mannheim (2004) and the ICA, London (1996).
Artwork

Luv by Harland Miller
Luv by Harland Miller

XXX by Harland Miller
XXX by Harland Miller

Hate’s Outta Date (Blue) by Harland Miller
Hate’s Outta Date (Blue) by Harland Miller

Hate’s Outta Date (Yellow) by Harland Miller
Hate’s Outta Date (Yellow) by Harland Miller

Fuck Art Let’s Dance Set by Harland Miller
Fuck Art Let’s Dance Set by Harland Miller

Narcissist Seeks Similar by Harland Miller
Narcissist Seeks Similar by Harland Miller

Incurable Romantic Seeks Dirty Filthy Whore by Harland Miller
Incurable Romantic Seeks Dirty Filthy Whore by Harland Miller

Who Cares Wins (Blue) by Harland Miller
Who Cares Wins (Blue) by Harland Miller

High On Hope 2019 By Harland Miller
High On Hope 2019 By Harland Miller

Love Saves the Day by Harland Miller
Love Saves the Day by Harland Miller

Fuck Art, Let’s Dance by Harland Miller
Fuck Art, Let’s Dance by Harland Miller

High On Hope By Harland Miller
High On Hope By Harland Miller

Love Conquers Nothing by Harland Miller
Love Conquers Nothing by Harland Miller

There’s No Business Like No Business by Harland Miller
There’s No Business Like No Business by Harland Miller

In Shadows I Boogie by Harland Miller
In Shadows I Boogie by Harland Miller

Thought After Filthy Thought by Harland Miller
Thought After Filthy Thought by Harland Miller

This Is Where It’s Fuckin At By Harland Miller
This Is Where It’s Fuckin At By Harland Miller

I Am The One I’ve Been Waiting For by Harland Miller
I Am The One I’ve Been Waiting For by Harland Miller

Hate’s Outta Date By Harland Miller
Hate’s Outta Date By Harland Miller

Are You Unhappy Darling by Harland Miller
Are You Unhappy Darling by Harland Miller

Incurable Romantic Seeks Dirty Filthy Whore By Harland Miller
Incurable Romantic Seeks Dirty Filthy Whore By Harland Miller

Tonight We Make History By Harland Miller
Tonight We Make History By Harland Miller

Fuck Dancing, Let’s Fuck by Harland Miller
Fuck Dancing, Let’s Fuck by Harland Miller

Blonde But Not Forgotten by Harland Miller
Blonde But Not Forgotten by Harland Miller

Love, A Decisive Blow Against If by Harland Miller
Love, A Decisive Blow Against If by Harland Miller

The Me I Never Knew By Harland Miller
The Me I Never Knew By Harland Miller

Overcoming Optimism By Harland Miller
Overcoming Optimism By Harland Miller

Rags to Polyester by Harland Miller
Rags to Polyester by Harland Miller

International Lonely Guy (Rare) By Harland Miller
International Lonely Guy (Rare) By Harland Miller

You Can Rely On Me, I’ll Always Let You Down By Harland Miller
You Can Rely On Me, I’ll Always Let You Down By Harland Miller

Who Cares Wins (Pink) by Harland Miller
Who Cares Wins (Pink) by Harland Miller

Who Cares Wins by Harland Miller
Who Cares Wins by Harland Miller

Too Cool To Lose by Harland Miller
Too Cool To Lose by Harland Miller

I Am The One I’ve Been Waiting For by Harland Miller
I Am The One I’ve Been Waiting For by Harland Miller

I’ll Never Forget What I Can’t Remember By Harland Miller (Pink)
I’ll Never Forget What I Can’t Remember By Harland Miller (Pink)

Gateshead Revisited by Harland Miller
Gateshead Revisited by Harland Miller

Death, What’s in it for me? by Harland Miller
Death, What’s in it for me? by Harland Miller

Armageddon: Is It Too Much To Ask? By Harland Miller
Armageddon: Is It Too Much To Ask? By Harland Miller

Sweet Afton by Harland Miller
Sweet Afton by Harland Miller

Killing Bondage By Harland Miller
Killing Bondage By Harland Miller

Heroin, It’s What Your Right Arm’s For By Harland Miller
Heroin, It’s What Your Right Arm’s For By Harland Miller

On Me Not In Me By Harland Miller
On Me Not In Me By Harland Miller

You Can Rely On Me By Harland Miller
You Can Rely On Me By Harland Miller

If The Phone Don’t Ring By Harland Miller
If The Phone Don’t Ring By Harland Miller

On Me Not In Me By Harland Miller
On Me Not In Me By Harland Miller

Gravity All Nonsense Now By Harland Miller
Gravity All Nonsense Now By Harland Miller

Five Ring Circus by Harland Miller
Five Ring Circus by Harland Miller

I’ll Never Forget What I Can’t Remember By Harland Miller
I’ll Never Forget What I Can’t Remember By Harland Miller
