Master At Word Play — Greg Miller

Through his painting and collage techniques, references to popular culture, and inclusion of textual elements allowing for clever and often satirical wordplay, Greg Miller creates a layered depth to his artworks. JoAnne Artman Gallery is pleased to present “Master At Word Play,” an online showcase of works by Greg Miller with a particular focus on the impact his use of words has within his pieces and how he fosters this powerful relationship between language and art.

“Love—is that later Thing than Death—

More previous—than Life—

Confirms it at its entrance—And

Usurps it—of itself—”

With “Love Is That Later Thing” displayed in this painting of Venus, the viewer can’t help but analyze the significance; perhaps Miller is conveying that the qualities of beauty and love, which Venus is most known for, are not what the focus should be on, i.e, they are character traits that have been projected onto women as a whole, especially in the context of the representations of Venus that have been pictured in art history through the male-gaze and patriarchal views of women. Miller cleverly challenges this perspective in his collage; using a cut-out image of a woman’s hand—near the top left side of the painting—holding an object with the word “Man” cut out and collaged on top of the object. Near the lower left-hand corner of the painting, there is a rectangular-shaped image of a man with the words “natural” and (what appears to be) “WONDER” cut out and placed onto the image of the man.

On a similar note, Miller’s painting Real (Titan) presents us with a twist on the original painting Flora by Titan. The original artwork depicts a woman, Flora, holding flowers in her hand and wearing a white dress/robe, which is pictured sliding down her body to slightly reveal her breast. The Roman goddess associated with flowers and spring was known as Flora, and we can see that the painting Flora, like The Birth of Venus, provides us with another male artist's perspective of women and feminine beauty.

In Miller’s painting, he places an illustration and part of a one-dollar bill over top of where the dress slides down and creates an engaging collage to capture a new meaning for the artwork. For one, Miller’s piece only portrays the portrait from the chest up, and, therefore, does not include the element of Flora holding flowers. Along with this, on the left-hand side of the painting, Miller assembles a collage of what appears to be a bunch of grapes, some of which include an added dimension to them, being cut-out words and bits of words. Above this, is the capitalized phrase “I WANT” in blue and red. On the right-hand side of the piece, Miller inserts the words “UNTIL JUSTICE IS REAL.”