Harland Miller achieved critical acclaim with his debut novel, Slow Down Arthur, Stick to Thirty (2000), the story of a kid who travels around northern England with a David Bowie impersonator. As a writer, Miller often takes his autobiography as the point of departure. A love of books themselves, not only as the carriers of stories but as objects in their own right, pervades his artistic practice. In his paintings and works on paper, Miller regularly sets up the potential for narratives, characterized by their humanity and tragicomedy, using titles, phrases, or single words to echo or allow for multiple readings.
Influenced by Pop art and abstraction from mid-century America, Miller’s works draw attention to the inherent possibilities of language within the visual field, employing humor, irony, and emotion to explore not only the formal qualities of painting but also the complexities of the spoken and written word. Celebrities including Ed Sheeran and Rachel Weisz have collected Miller’s work, which has sold at auction for six-figure prices. Miller has exhibited around the world, with solo shows in London, Hong Kong, Berlin, Paris, and New York, among other cities.
