In an artistic work-around from the gathering restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Delaware State Art Center/Gallery has launched its first show of the 2020-2021 school year – a virtual exhibition of the works of a DSU alumnus Guy Miller.
The Miller exhibition – entitled Subversion: Not a Bird, Not a Plane – is currently on display in the Art Center/Gallery and can be accessed virtually at
www.artgallery.desu.edu. The exhibition represents Miller exploration of the issue of representation of African Americans in pop culture. The works on display reflect an alternate reality created by Miller, in which black superheroes from the mid-1994 are celebrated on lunch boxes, on Pez candy dispensers and movie posters.
Miller’s works features his renditions of African American superheroes of the mid-1990s – 25 years before the cinematic success of 2018 Black Panther -- such as Meteor Man (featured in the Robert Townsend movie of the same name), Marvel Comics characters such as Bishop, Black Ranger, Storm, Blade and others. Because lunchboxes and other items of those years were adorned with images of Superman, Batman, Spiderman, the Hulk and other non-black heroes, the Miller exhibition begs the questions – why were African American superheroes excluded from such products.
The works in this exhibition are the fruits of a fellowship awarded to Miller by the Delaware Division of the Arts. It was the second such fellowship received by Miller from that organization.
Miller graduated from Del State in 2013 with a Bachelor of Art in Studio Arts Degree. Miller later continued his education at American University in Washington, D.C., where he completed a Master of Fine Arts Degree in 2019.
During graduate school years, Miller’s works were featured in exhibitions at the Prince George’s (Md.) African American Museum and Cultural Center, VisArts in Rockville, Md., American University Museum, Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, (2018), Viridian Gallery in New York City and Chris White Gallery in Wilmington, Del.
In May 2019 he was awarded the JoAnn Crisp-Ellert Graduate Purchase Prize for the collection of work he created for his thesis.
After completing his graduate degree, Miller returned to Delaware, where he is now an art educator at Kent County Secondary Intensive Learning Center (Capital School District) in Dover.
Posted By: Reginald Culpepper
Thursday, November 5th 2020 at 4:39PM
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