Harland Miller Mixed Media

The 'Narcissist Seeks Similar' limited edition etching boasts energizing fuchsias with complementary pop art colors, subtle textures, and iconic motif by artist and writer Harland Miller. Created in 2021 with multiple layers of etching and relief printing, each penguin in the edition of only 50 is hand-finished. Miller connects Pop Art, Abstraction, and Figurative Painting with his love of text, as the Penguin Book dust jacket paintings first appeared in 2001 and are inspired by the books from the 1950’s and 60’s. His satirical re-imagining of the titles while timeless, are perhaps particularly relevant in today’s world. The idea to create the limited edition series was from an enormously popular recent painting of the same title, from Miller’s ‘Penguin’ series, which was first exhibited at the artist’s largest solo exhibition in his hometown of York in the UK. Miller connects Pop Art, Abstraction, and Figurative Painting with his love of text, as the Penguin Book dust jacket paintings first appeared in 2001 and are inspired by the books from the 1950’s and 60’s. His satirical re-imagining of the titles while timeless, are perhaps particularly relevant in today’s world. Miller commented on the work, “This title came from a series called ‘Circling The Small Ads’. At the risk of over explaining this – because I’m going back a ways, these were quite literally small ads usually placed in local newspapers by people looking for some form, (often a very specific form), of companionship. My eye was always drawn to the way they were composed, with the seeker – whoever they may be – describing themselves in two or three carefully considered words, underneath which – centered and occupying its own line – was the word ’Seeks’, and then of course below that was a brief description of what, or whom they were seeking. Desire was the activating sort of impulse behind these ads and I wanted that to come out in the painting itself: the way it was painted and the colour. I mean, colour changes the way in which you will read something. This kind of cerise pink I used (which according to Penguin’s colour-key, denoted the series on travel and adventure) is a colour that elicits a really strong response – it’s very immediate – like some primal flame being turned up inside. The colour itself was important because the narcissist had to be about desire – right, and of course that had to be special, and this is a ‘Penguin Special’ – the only one of its kind.” The work comes ready to install in a custom frame with museum caliber non-glare UV protective glass and hooks on reverse. Harland Miller is a British artist and author who is best known for his large-scale, photo-realistic paintings, posters, and prints of vintage Penguin book covers. A critically acclaimed novelist as well as an influential painter, his practice explores the combination of image and text, similar in scope to American artists Ed Ruscha and Mel Bochner. “There's always been this compulsion to write on pictures,” he has observed. The satirical covers he paints often feature his own invented, sardonic titles combined with the iconic Penguin logo and vivid pop art...

Born in Yorkshire, England in 1964, Harland Miller is a critically acclaimed writer and artist. Books are central to Miller's practice in both endeavours. His best known works reimagine vintage Penguin book covers...