If The Phone Don't Ring It's Me (orange)
If The Phone Don't Ring It's Me (orange)
Signed Print
Harland Miller
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Medium: Screenprint
Edition size: 50
Year: 2008
Size: H 42cm x W 58cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
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Meaning & Analysis
The Penguin prints series (2001-) is Harland Miller’s most famous series of works and marks a watershed moment in his career. Stumbling across a box of second-hand Penguin books near the Notre Dame, he was inspired to authentically recreate the well-known format of their dust jackets, replacing their original titles with his invented satirical, witty and sometimes controversial texts such as Incurable Romantic Seeks Dirty Filthy Whore Now and Death What's In It For Me?. He usually features himself as the author or in some unique cases other iconic writers such as Charles Bukowski or Ernest Hemingway.
The Penguin series is emblematic of Miller’s artistic language. It marries his influences from Abstract Expressionism and Colour Field Art and artists like Robert Rauschenberg and Mark Rothko, Pop Art and figures like Ed Ruscha, as well Miller’s dark, quintessentially British humour and love for language and literature. The series is a fascinating exploration of the relationship between reality and representation. Miller manipulates the viewer’s perception of the text and its meaning through how it’s displayed in terms of colour and the familiar Penguin book format. The photorealistic, rugged rendering of the original adds a sense of three-dimensionality to the prints, along with the visceral nostalgia and intimacy evoked by a precious second-hand book.
British artist, Harland Miller, is renowned for his irreverent reimagining of vintage Penguin book jackets. Playing with nostalgia, cultural, and literary references, the artist combines Pop Art motifs with the brushstrokes of Abstract Expressionism. Miller's paintings and prints are often imbued with dark humour, with works such as You Can Rely On Me I'll Always Let You Down being characterised by an undercurrent of satire and self-depreciation. Exploring the relationship between word and image has undoubtedly allowed Miller's art to comment on the frequent disconnect between representation and reality, and influence artists such as The Connor Brothers in their practice.
