Genell Miller

Painter, born in Memphis and raised in St. Louis

Gold Roses: a tall canvas of rose heads in even rows, soft rose-pink and brown on a gold ground.
Gold Roses, 2006. Oil on linen. 73 × 49 inches.

Genell Miller paints roses in repeating grids, exploring pattern, repetition and scale in oil on linen and panel.

Her work also includes figure paintings, line drawings and installations made with fabric and handmade books.

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Work

Six bodies of work, from rose paintings to book installations. Choose one to see its pictures.

Roses

Rose paintings in oil on linen and panel, 2006 to 2009, with two works on paper. Photographs courtesy Bruno David Gallery.

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  • Gold Roses: a tall canvas of rose heads in even rows, soft rose-pink and brown on a gold ground.
    Gold Roses, 2006Oil on linen, 73 × 49 inches
  • Roses Square #3: a square panel of thickly painted roses in pink, cream, yellow and red, set in a loose grid with charcoal line.
    Roses Square #3, 2008Oil on panel, 48 × 48 inches
  • Roses Square #1: an eight-by-eight grid of roses in ochre, white and rust red, outlined in charcoal.
    Roses Square #1, 2007Oil on linen, 66 × 66 inches
  • Roses Square #2: a grid of roses in pale grey, white and gold, drawn in charcoal.
    Roses Square #2, 2007Oil on linen, 66 × 66 inches
  • Roses Repeated #3: two joined panels of soft brown and cream roses in even rows.
    Roses Repeated #3, 2006Oil on linen, 66 × 66 inches
  • 64 Roses (1-2): two long panels of orange, pink and cream roses hung one above the other on a white gallery wall.
    64 Roses (1-2), 2009Oil on linen, 32.5 × 128 inches each, diptych
  • 64 Roses #2: a long, narrow panel of pink, blue-grey and orange roses.
    64 Roses #2, 2009Oil on linen, 32.5 × 128 inches
  • Detail of 64 Roses #2: large pink and red roses on a cream and gold ground, with a vertical seam.
    64 Roses #2 (detail), 2009Oil on linen, 32.5 × 128 inches
  • Detail of Roses Square #3: loose white, red and yellow roses with charcoal drawing showing through.
    Roses Square #3 (detail), 2008Oil on panel, 48 × 48 inches
  • Detail of Roses Square #1: roses in blue-grey, ochre and red with charcoal line.
    Roses Square #1 (detail), 2009Oil on linen, 66 × 66 inches
  • Flowers for Bonnie: a tall, narrow panel of small orange, pink and yellow flowers.
    Flowers for Bonnie, 2008Oil on panel, 80 × 32 inches
  • White Drawing #2: a dense all-over drawing of flowers in fine dark line on white paper.
    White Drawing #2, 2003Carbon and ballpoint ink on paper, 30 × 42 inches
  • Peonia: a large peony head scribbled in black and blue ink over a coral ground, with teal leaves and a fragment of printed text.
    Peonia, 2006Mixed media on paper, 15 × 12 inches

Diaries

Paintings of figures, couples and portraits, built from strong diagonal strokes of colour.

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  • Diary 2: an embracing couple in grey beside a door striped in red and pink.
  • Diary 13: two figures in bold cream, black and brown diagonal strokes.
  • Diary 1: three seated figures in purple, blue and red, painted in layered strokes.
  • Diary 4: two figures leaning together in blue and grey.
  • Diary 6: a close portrait of a woman's face in red, violet and blue strokes.
  • Diary 7: a portrait of a figure in dark red and blue, with washes of handwriting.
  • Diary 9: figures in pink, white and violet in sweeping strokes, in a wide format.
  • Diary 10: figures lying close together under bold diagonal strokes of cream and brown.
  • Diary 11: two profiles against black, in strokes of cream and ochre.
  • Diary 12: embracing figures in brown and violet beneath slanting strokes.
  • Two framed Diary paintings hanging in a gallery room with a wooden floor and track lighting.

Line Drawings

Drawings made of looping, overlapping lines, shown as whole framed works and in close detail.

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  • Line Drawing 007: a framed drawing filled with looping, overlapping lines in grey.
  • Line Drawing 006: a framed drawing of flower-like clusters of fine lines in a loose grid.
  • Line Drawing 008: a framed drawing of dense, looping lines in grey with darker clusters.
  • Line Detail 001: looping pencil lines on pale paper.
  • Line Detail 002: a dense knot of looping lines on pale paper.
  • Line Detail 003: a mirrored pattern of looping lines on pale paper.
  • Line Detail 004: looping lines with touches of reddish pencil.
  • Line Detail 005: tangled looping lines with touches of reddish pencil.

Nothing Sacred Nothing

Heavily textured panels in black, grey, red and ochre.

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  • Nothing Sacred Nothing 1: a textured black and grey panel with a red-orange strip at its right edge, on a white wall.
  • Nothing Sacred Nothing 2: a two-part panel on black, one part pale yellow and white, the other deep red with a pale central form.
  • Nothing Sacred Nothing 3: round and arched textured panels leaning against a wall above a tiled floor.

Construction Installation

A torn painting of two figures, draped gauze, polka-dot fabric and collage.

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  • Construction Installation 7: a torn painting of two Renaissance-style female heads, draped with gauze, on a cream wall.
  • Construction Installation 8: the torn painting with two female heads on a wall, with a stepladder and a stool in front.
  • Construction Installation 6: gauze and polka-dot fabric hanging against a pale wall.

Book Installations

Handmade books with collage, drawing, fabric and found text, shown open and laid out on tables.

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  • An open book with white-line plant drawings on black facing a page of floral fabric.
  • Handmade books stacked and opened on trestle tables.
  • Open handmade books piled on a table, with a black page and a white line drawing.
  • A white wall with framed works above a table of open books.
  • Handmade books laid out along trestle tables beside a plain wall.
  • A long row of trestle tables covered with open books.
  • Stacks of handmade books in colourful covers on a table, seen from above.
  • A book open to a page of old music manuscript, with a torn black line and fine drawing.
  • An open book with a tulip drawing on a gold-toned page.
  • An open book with a red page holding a small portrait photograph, beside patterned fabric.
  • An open book with a red page holding a white flower drawing.
  • An open book with a red page and a white oval cut-out.
  • A page printed and painted in red, black and white.
  • An open book with a leaf-shaped collage on a black page.
  • An open yellow book with black line drawings and a patch of patterned fabric.
  • An open book with collaged pages of drawings and photographs on pale paper.
  • An open book with a collage of dark fabric and a small photograph.
  • A page with black painted forms and handwriting across the top.
  • An open book with a large red painted page and a white border.
  • An open book with a black ink figure drawing beside floral paper.
  • An open book with a red leaf and a black bird above a page with a blue wave drawing.
  • A page with a red leaf and a black bird painted on ochre.
  • Two pages of black brushwork on floral paper.
  • An open book with pages of pencil drawing and dark wood-grain paper.
  • An open book with a dark page of painted fruit.
  • An open yellow book with a black and white ornament and handwriting, with other books stacked above.
  • Pages with red and white stripes and a small portrait, beside a book with a photograph.
  • An open book with navy fabric printed with white flowers beside a page of drawing.
  • An open book with pale floral paper and a large looping ink drawing.
  • A lavender book cover with an ornate gilt mirror frame fixed to it.
  • A black book cover printed with a white pattern and tied with cream fringe.
  • A black book cover with a small collaged yellow flower.
  • A black book bound with white cord, with a small yellow patch.
  • A yellow book cover with a collaged figure.
  • A grey-striped book with a small label reading Mama.
  • A book cover in red and brown with a label and a patterned border.

Biography

Genell Miller is a painter, born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in St. Louis, where she lives and works. She received her BFA in painting from Washington University in St. Louis in 1977 and studied at Temple University in Philadelphia.

She has taught design at St. Louis Community College and was a painting instructor at Beaver College. She has also been a guest lecturer at institutions such as Webster University, Cornell University Rome and Temple University Rome. She lived in Rome, Italy, for eleven years before returning to St. Louis.

Her work has been featured in more than 49 individual and group exhibitions in cities around the world, including New York, Kansas City, Chicago, Italy, Switzerland and Taipei. It is held in private collections across the United States and Europe.

Detail of Roses Square #3: loose white, red and yellow roses with charcoal drawing showing through.
Roses Square #3 (detail), 2008. Oil on panel. 48 × 48 inches.
  • 1977BFA in painting, Washington University in St. Louis
  • 11 yearsLiving in Rome, Italy
  • 49+Individual and group exhibitions around the world

Exhibitions

Genell Miller: Memories

Bruno David Gallery (Project Room), St. Louis
January 23 to February 28, 2009

  • Gallery wall with two framed Roses Square paintings and, to the right, the tall narrow Flowers for Bonnie.
    Installation view. Photo courtesy Bruno David Gallery.
  • Installation view of the two long 64 Roses panels on an angled white wall, with a wall label reading Genell Miller at the left.
    Installation view. Photo courtesy Bruno David Gallery.

From the exhibition text

Genell Miller's paintings explore formal concerns of pattern, repetition and scale, while hinting at her art historical influences. Miller created this series upon returning to St. Louis after staying 11 years in Rome, Italy, and her time among the old masters peeks through her craft.

Her reiterations of flora are brought to life in flesh tones reminiscent of the wispy peach-pink of Raphael's bodies. Her color palette is warm and nostalgic, a maternal embrace on canvas, and the use of repetitive line gesture is indicative of Miller's exposure to the art history of Italy. The rough, charcoal history of each flower's beginning often shows through, and the almost architectural investigation and rendering of the form allude to pages from Michelangelo's sketchbooks.

The suggestion of the traditional women's crafts of quilting and sewing is evident in the grid-like repetition, which also conversely conveys a sense of mechanical mass production. Miller's new work is a marriage of technique and sensibility, line and form, learned history and sense memory.

Where her work has been shown

Genell's work has been shown in more than 49 individual and group exhibitions around the world, including in:

  • New York
  • Kansas City
  • Chicago
  • Italy
  • Switzerland
  • Taipei

It is held in private collections across the United States and Europe.

Teaching

Teaching background

  • Taught design, St. Louis Community College
  • Painting instructor, Beaver College
  • Guest lecturer at institutions such as Webster University, Cornell University Rome and Temple University Rome

Contact

To ask about the work, please write or call.

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