MAX MILLER

Max Miller

AKA: Max Miller

Born: 1940 Wellington, NSW

• Landscape
• Painter
• Print Maker
• Water Colour
• Established

Small Waterhole, Ellery Creek.

Max Miller was born at Wellington, NSW in 1940. His art education was fairly conventional with studies at Julian Ashton School (1963 -64) and East Sydney Technical College followed by a period overseas. He studied in the American School of Arizona, Florence, Italy and then at the Hammersmith College of Art, London. He completed a graduate diploma at St Martins College of Art, London. His major interest was in printmaking.

On his return to Australia in 1973 the artist became a part time teacher at East Sydney Technical College and Randwick Technical College while establishing the Zero Print Workshop. In 1977 he returned to live in the countryside when he established his own printmaking workshop at East Kangaloon, NSW. He still lives there. In 1978 he received the Victorian Arts Board grant to study at printmaking and papermaking workshops in Europe and Japan.

Max is an artist who is able to offer other artists technical and artistic guidance in the production on multi-imprint works. A close friend, the artist Clifton Pugh who often travels with Max, has said “I choose to do all my etchings with Max Miller because he is utterly unique. He is not only a great artist, he is a great craftsman as well.” Max has produced print editions for other artists including Lloyd Rees, John Olsen, Arthur Boyd and Frank Hodgkinson.

There seems to be two streams to his own work.

He spends a lot of time in the Australian outback where he approaches the landscape with a sense of reverence and is attracted to the sense of infinite space he finds there. He takes much from where he paints and little from his imagination. He works hard on these painting trips, sometimes six days without rest. When he is tired he gets into his car and drives a long distance to a new site. He often questions himself: “I am not completely self assured about what I am doing. I question what I do quite a lot”. He refreshes himself by driving and looking. These trips result in landscapes in watercolour and pastel. He tries to present the deeper meanings he finds hidden in these special places and has said “When I paint watercolour, I’m not just trying to paint the scenery; I’m trying to get to the spirituality of the place.” An example of this stream is Ravine at Big Falls included in the 1988 exhibition Contemporary Views of New England at the New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale.

The other stream is represented by his abstract works. The oil painting Desert Tantra (1988) is an example. It is an abstract, horizonless background incised with white, brief lines and small nature-like images. Another example is Space Machine, an aquatint etching produced in 1995 with geometrical shapes and overlaid white forms. This stream tends to reflect his interest in Eastern, and particularly Buddhist, art and religion. His work Frieze which won the 1976 Mosman Print Prize is an early example.

Frieze

1970
Solo exhibition St Martins College of Art, London
Solo exhibition Commonwealth Institute Gallery, Edinburgh
1972
Exhibition with London Arts Group, London.
1973
Australian Printmakers group exhibition, Hamilton, New Zealand.
1974
Australian Printmakers group exhibition, Hamilton, New Zealand.
Group exhibition, Bonython Gallery, Sydney.
1976
Solo exhibition, Coventry Gallery, Sydney.
Korahn II (acrylic 139 x 112 cm) sold for $300.
Solo exhibition, Solander Gallery, Canberra.
1977
Solo exhibition, Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne.
Solo exhibition, Coventry Gallery, Sydney.
1978
Solo exhibition, Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane.
Solo exhibition, David Ellis Gallery, Melbourne
Solo exhibition, Coventry Gallery, Sydney.
1979
Solo exhibition, Warehouse Gallery, Melbourne.
Solo exhibition, Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane.
British International Print Biennale, Bradford, UK.
Ljubljana International Biennale of Graphic Art, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia.
Group exhibition, Curwin Gallery, London.
1980
Solo exhibition, Coventry Gallery, Sydney.
Norwegian Printmaking Biennale, Frederikstadt, Norway.
Shell Invitation Print Awards, Fremantle.
Contemporary Artists of the South Coast, Wollongong Art Gallery.
1981
Solo exhibition, Miller Gallery, Perth.
Solo exhibition, Stanfield Gallery, Melbourne.
1982
Solo exhibition, Coventry Gallery, Sydney.
Shasoin (synthetic polymer paint 175 x 195 cm) sold for $3000.
Norwegian Print Biennale, Norway.
1983
Green as a Rainforest touring exhibition (with Clifton Pugh), Hobart, Sydney and Melbourne.
World Print Biennale, USA.
1984
Solo exhibition, Miller Gallery, Perth.
Norwegian Print Biennale, Norway.
1985
Solo exhibition, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney.
Norwegian Print Biennale, Norway.
Eire Print Biennale, Eire.
1986
Solo exhibition, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney.
Solo exhibition, David Ellis Fine Art Gallery, Melbourne.
Solo exhibition, Chapman Gallery, Canberra.
Island Garden (charcoal, 91 x 122 cm) sold for $1200.
Palm Valley (pastel, 73 x 87) sold for $1400.
Solo exhibition, Breewood Gallery, Katoomba.
Print as Object touring exhibition, Print Council of Australia.
1987
Solo exhibition, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney.
Solo exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne.
1988
Solo exhibition, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney.
Houston International Festival, USA.
Contemporary Views of New England, New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale, NSW.
1989
Twentieth Century Australian Watercolours exhibition, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney.
Solo exhibition, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney.
Solo exhibition, Chapman Gallery, Canberra.
Solo exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne.
1990
Solo exhibition, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney.
1991
Solo exhibition, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney.
1992
Vistas, views and visions, New England Regional Art Museum
solo exhibition, Armidale, NSW.
1993
Solo exhibition, Gallery 460, Gosford, NSW.
Solo exhibition, Chapman Gallery, Canberra.
1994
Solo exhibition, Cunnington Galleries, Brisbane.
1995
Group exhibition, Falls Gallery, Wentworth Falls, NSW.
1996
Solo exhibition, Gallery Savah, Sydney.
1999
Solo exhibition, Coventry Gallery, Sydney.
2001
Solo exhibition, Cunnington Galleries, Brisbane.