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In his large-scale mixed-media collages, California artist Greg Miller vividly portrays the essence of an American golden age, creating scenes that resonate powerfully with our collective nostalgia for the 1950s and 1960s. Combining fragments of text, come-hither pin-up girls, flashes of Western landscape, and vintage signage, he recreates an entire cultural moment, conjuring images of an eternal summer filled with lazy days by motel pools, long drives down Route 66, and all manner of roadside adventure.

While tapping in to a uniquely American vision mythologized by literature and especially by film, Miller’s work also recalls the work of ‘60s pop artists like James Rosenquist, Robert Rauschenberg, and Mel Ramos in its appropriation of mass- culture images for artistic ends. As Rauschenberg did in his mixed-media canvases, Miller skillfully juxtaposes disparate cultural artifacts to achieve a concentrated, carefully calibrated mood—in Miller’s case, a combination of heavenly mid- century optimism, youthful excitement in the face of the unknown (his images often evoke spontaneous travel, the freedom and uncertainty of the road), and, overlaying them both, a wistful longing for a vanished past.

The form of Miller’s work is inseparable from its content: He achieves his seductive surfaces through the use of surfboard resin, a clear nod to mid-century beach culture. At the same time, the resin references the process of fossilization, preserving lost moments like insects in amber. While it may be impossible to freeze time, Miller’s work shows it is possible to capture its essence in art, where we may relive the collective memories we most cherish.

Born: 1951. Sacramento, CA Master of Arts, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA UCLA, Graduate School. Los Angeles, CA

Professional: 1989-1985 Claremont Graduate School of Art. Claremont, CA. Associate Professor of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture. Laguna College of Art and Design, Laguna Beach, CA. Chair of Visual Communication Department. Associate Professor of Design. Associates Professor of Painting and Advanced Painting Courses

Selected Corporate Collections: Charles Saatchi London, England; Playboy Enterprises, Los Angeles, CA; ARATEX Inc. San Francisco, CA; ODEDEX Corporation, Anaheim, CA; Community Arts Inc. San Francisco, CA; Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation; AmFAR. Los Angeles, CA; San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA; FAGO Foundation, Los Angeles, CA; Robert Pecota Winery, Napa, CA; Interscope Records, Los Angeles, CA; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Kansas City, MI.

Museums: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art; Pepperdine University, CA; Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA; Colorado Springs Fine Art Center, Colorado Springs, CO; Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans, LA; Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, CA; Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA; Newport Harbor At Museum, Newport Beach, CA; Montalvo Center for the Arts, Saratoga, CA

Galleries: Countless Solo and group exhibitions in Santa Monica, Palm Dessert, Boston, London, Colorado Springs, New Orleans, Miami, Aspen, New York, Vancouver, Chicago, San Francisco and Boca Raton since 1975.

Selected Private Collections: Sharon Stone, Jane Witter, Jennifer & Gianluca Galtrucco, Nancy Sheffner, Ann Janss, Sue & William Brandt, Barbara & Sam Masket, Herb Bloch, Sheryle Ulyate, Debbie & Dave Schneider, Judy Slutzky, Staci & Bruce Kirschbaum, Stephen Reiss, Len Jacoby, Eddie irvine, Milton Verret, Sean Mays, Toby Maguire

Awards: 1981 National Endowment for the Arts, Publication Grant 1980 National Endowment for the Arts, Exhibition Grant1978 National Endowment for the Arts, Publication Grant

Bibliography: Cate McQuaid “Going Back to Cali” The Boston Globe. February 20,2008; David Pagel, “Art Reviews” Los Angeles Times, December 31, 1992; Arlene Shattil, “CIACE, Art Chicago A Study of Contrasts” Art Business News, June 1992; Jenny Campbell, Orange County Register, April 1986;Caalon Smith, Los Angeles Times, January 1986;Cathy Curtis, Orange Country Register, January 1986; Judy Jones, Irvine World News, December 1985;Suzanne Muchnic, “ Major and Minor” Los Angeles Times, 1981;Dorothy Burkhart, “Introductions”, San Jose Mercury, 1979;Robert MacDonald, “Images of Women”, Art Week, 1979; Herb Caen, “Censorship at the Kaiser Building” San Francisco Chronicle, 1979; Charles Sheer, “Corporations/The Arts” Oakland Tribune, 1979; Joan Hugo, “Artist Book” Art Week, 1977;“California Artist: “Artes Visuales” October 1976; Lynn Grant, “The Printed Word” Art Week, March 1976