University opens Virtual Art Exhibition of alumnus Guy Miller
In an artistic work-around from the gathering restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Delaware State Arts Center/Gallery has launched its first show of the 2020-2021 school year – a virtual exhibition of the works of DSU alumnus Guy Miller.
The Miller exhibition – entitled Subversion: Not a Bird, Not a Plane – is currently on display in the Arts Center/Gallery and can be accessed virtually at http://artgallery.desu.edu/exhibitions/
The exhibition represents Miller’s exploration of the issue of representation of African Americans in pop culture. The works on display reflect an alternate reality created by Miller, in which black superheroes from mid-1994 are celebrated on lunch boxes, on Pez candy dispensers and movie posters.
Miller’s works feature his renditions of African American superheroes of the mid-1990s – 25 years before the cinematic success of 2018 Black Panther – such as Meteor Man (featured in the Robert Townsend movie of the same name), Marvel Comics characters such as Bishop, Black Ranger, Storm, Blade and others. Because lunch boxes and other items of those years were adorned with images of Superman, Batman, Spiderman, the Hulk and other non-black heroes, the Miller exhibition begs the questions – why were African American superheroes excluded from such products.
The works in this exhibition are the fruits of a fellowship awarded to Miller by the Delaware Division of the Arts. It was the second such fellowship received by Miller from that organization.
Miller graduated from Del State in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Arts Degree. Miller’s artistic focus as an undergraduate was primarily two-dimensional ink and graphite drawings. His senior capstone work investigated and challenged social standards through nudity, sexuality and drug use.
Immediately after graduation, he received his first fellowship, that resulted in his first solo exhibition at the Mezzanine Gallery in Wilmington’s Carvel State Building in 2014. Miller later continued his education at American University in Washington, D.C., where he completed a Master of Fine Arts Degree in 2019. It was during that graduate school experience that Miller made the dramatic shift to a three-dimensional focus.
During graduate school years, Miller’s works were featured in the exhibitions 40 Acres Deferred at the Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center (2018) and Deep Flash at VisArts in Rockville, Maryland (2018). Other exhibitions include Year One: A Closer Look at the American University Museum, Black Creativity at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago (2018), 30 Under 30 (curated by Chrissie Iles) at Viridian Gallery in New York, NY (2018), and The Black Experience at the Chris White Gallery in Wilmington, DE.
In May 2019 he was awarded the JoAnn Crisp-Ellert Graduate Purchase Prize for the collection of work he created for his thesis.
After completing his graduate degree, Miller returned to Delaware to not only continue his artistic work, but to teach. He is currently the art educator at Kent County Secondary Intensive Learning Center (Capital School District) in Dover.