Off the top of my head…

Off the top of my head…
Martin Miller
Introducing…
Martin Miller
Opposite:
Oops!
Cut log, manequin legs, socks
140 x 160 x 125cm
2012
Martin Miller was seemingly born an ideas
man. As he can best recall, his first foray into
business was breeding hamsters to sell in the
playground. Subsequent early ventures in
publishing saw him creating humorous self
help pamphlets, sold in the classified sections
of newspapers for half a shilling apiece with
great success.
As schoolboy became dandy, and dandy
became gentleman, Miller’s passion for
all things rarefied grew. A love of English
country houses and antiques inspired him to
create the infamous Miller’s Antiques Guides,
which became a publishing phenomenon and
to date have sold over 110 million copies
worldwide. Alongside this Miller has always
run numerous luxury country house retreats
in grandiose settings, decorated in his
renowned maximalist style, capturing the
quintessence of British taste as seen through
the artful prism of Miller’s eye.
As any ripping yarn should have, twists and
turns litter the story. True to his maverick and
unpredictable spirit Miller, frustrated at being
able to get a really good gin for his afternoon
tipple set about creating one that met his
exacting standards. Thus Martin Miller’s Gin
was born. Sourcing the finest of ingredients,
employing the undisputed best distiller in the
country, and blending the result with the purest
Icelandic water the multi award winning result
owes its success to the excellence of all things
Martin Miller.
But his passion lies not only in an appreciation
of all things exquisite, but also of a love of
the absurd. Arguably one of the last of the
true British eccentrics, no waking moment
is complete for Miller without looking at the
world askew. Thus to a long and diverse CV
of accolades and achievements as a writer,
publisher, poet and interior designer, one can
now add artist.
In 2010, Miller purchased Great Brampton
House. Located along roads less travelled,
nestling in the heart of the Wye Valley,
Herefordshire, Miller saw that was the perfect
location to combine his enjoyment of fine
antiques alongside that of creating a unique
centre for the production and appreciation of
contemporary art in the UK.
In the ultimate distillation of all that tickles
Martin Miller, Great Brampton House was to
Above, Great Brampton House, adorned
with Russell Maurice & Daniel Sparkes’
Rousseuesque mural
Left, View from the hill behind Great Brampton
House over the Wye Valley.
be half ideas factory, half house of curiosities,
and half countryside retreat. Taking it’s cue
from Miller’s Academy of Art and Science
(a previous venture of Miller’s located in
Notting Hill, London which had hosted a
program of talks, dinners and debates from
artists, explorers, theorists, curators and
scientists) Miller set about creating an even
grander setup in this stately home just along
the road from Hay-on-Wye, infamous at the
“town of books”.
In June 2011, the first part of the operation
opened to the public. Down Stairs, the art
gallery at Great Brampton House, occupies
the entire lower ground floor of the house.
Spread over ten gleaming white rooms totalling
6,000sq ft, it has quickly established itself as
the leavding space for critical art practice in
the wider area and beyond.
Supporting contemporary artists from a variety
of backgrounds across all media the gallery
is committed to showing emerging artists
shoulder to shoulder with established names.
An ambitious programme of exhibitions
and events to date have included group
exhibitions Change The World Or Go Home,
which questioned the role of the artist within
contemporary culture; Heartlands, which
united artists interested in the countryside and
its relationship with British national identity;
Tryouts which explored our relationship with
the objects we collect and surround ourselves
with in everyday life; and most recently
The Stone of Folly, which used local Neolithic
Down Stairs
Opposite top, Great Brampton House
Opposite, below, View from the hill behind
Great Brampton House over the Wye Valley.
burial site Arthur’s Stone as the basis for
exploring ideas around local folklore and
forgotten histories.
Artists exhibited to date have included
young and old, established and emerging,
up-and-coming and down-and-out, local and
international. Artists such as Benedict Drew,
Jeremy Deller, Mark Titchner, Gavin Turk,
Heather Phillipson, Nicholas Pope, Katie
Cuddon, Alice Anderson, Cathy Lomax,
Sarah Woodfine, Jimmy Merris, Hennessy
Youngman, Simon Roberts, Sean Dower,
John Goto, Mark McGowan and Susan
Stockwell amongst many others have been
welcome at Great Brampton House. All
guests are encouraged to use their stay as an
opportunity to challenge their normal practice
and to draw from the well of diverse objects
and artefacts in the house and grounds. In
return, artists are asked to simply leave a
work of their own as a gesture to add to the
milieu from which subsequent guests can
gain inspiration from.
But whilst this sudden explosion of artistic
activity in proximity to Martin Miller might
seem sudden, the process of separating
out his own art practice from the creative
hubris of his diverse activities formally
begun in 1997. The exhibition A Word In
Your Ear (6th–8th October 1995, Grovensor
House, London) saw Miller use paparazzi
photos and overlay them with daft speech
Left, Vivienne & Naomi (1995)
Right, Hale, Catherine and Pace (1995)
and thought bubble commentary. Miller’s
teasing of burgeoning of celebrity culture
was intended to visualise possible absurdities
of living life in a such a bubble whilst also
having a laugh with the some of the very folk he
would spend time with or around. Almost all
of the works from the exhibition sold, many
to those featured in them, such was their
appreciation of Miller’s wit and wordplay.
The success of this exhibition led Miller to
develop a further body of work. My Weekend
on Mars (4th–21st September 1997, Hollywood
Road Gallery, London) consisted of
numerous large screen prints comprised of
seemingly abstract forms simply rendered,
often in the modernist palette of blue, yellow,
red, black and white. The twist in the tale,
as often when interpreting a Miller artwork,
lies in the title. A black circle with two inset
yellow squares sat against a blue backdrop
Preparatory sketches for works in My Weekend on
Mars, all 1997
reveals itself to be TV Addict. Interlocking
circles rendered in a half tone of red (i.e.
pink) reveals itself to be Full Moon. A similar
work halved is of course Half Moon. Whilst
seemingly flippantly dismissive of much
of 20th century art practice, Miller’s work
with the subject could also be interpreted
as a way of him trying to make sense of
this world as presented to him through his
preferred parameters of bold juxtaposition
and relentless wit.
Subsequent personal and financial events in
Miller’s life took the wind out of his creative
sails for a period. There was a book of poetry
Disjointed Noughts (self published, 2006)
which casually flip-flopped between flippant
and frankly sombre. An period attempting
to understand the nature of what comprised
a Rothko painting saw Miller earnestly
daubing hundreds of large dark broody
canvases within a period of weeks, some of
which are still gasped at when visitors to
his establishments clap eyes on them. This
period of creative wallowment subsequently
acted as the spark to a a period which found
Miller brimming uncontrollably with ideas
and enthusiasm for paintings, sculptures,
instillations, films and much much more
that he wanted to see made reality.
The Stables, before and after (exterior)
The Stables, before and after (interior)
Lukasz Dawid, Max McClure and Dmitri Galitzine
Installing Gavin Turk’s Ouevre (Guinea Fowl) Thus Miller had big plans for an unloved
stable block in the grounds of the house.
Some folk buy a sketchbook to work out
their ideas. To enable his own dreams to
become reality Miller redeveloped the stables
into a series of studios and workshops.
Gregariously intended for use both by
visiting artists as well as for bringing Miller’s
ideas into reality, The Stables is staffed by a
team of technicians from various renowned
studios and arts establishments in London
as well as employing local specialists and
trainees. Many are aspiring artists in their
own right, and Miller has provided his
technician’s with studio spaces of their own
and accommodation in a cottage within
the house’s grounds, supporting their
independent practice alongside that of his.
For Miller, the creative output drawn from
this setup has manifested itself in two
extensive exhibitions. Metromorphosis (1st
June–30th December 2011) was one of
the first exhibitions to open the gallery.
Consisting of several dozen of diverse ideas
rapidly assembled into reality by the team
in The Stables it encompassed sculpture,
photography, installation, video and more.
Described as happily straddling the line
between stupid and clever, this initial body
of new pieces by Miller attested to his delight
in working with wit, sarcasm and wordplay,
offering a poignant reminder that there is no
such thing as ‘no laughing matter’. Above, David Prichard working on the fibreglass
mould for Onto A Pet’s Hamburger.
Below, Richard Lewis preparing Long Live Capitalism
for spraying.
Above: Neighbourhood Watch (instillation shot)
This exhibition was swiftly followed in
2012 by Just An Idea… (14th April–6th
July 2012 Down Stairs, Herefordshire).
Filling all of the gallery spaces many of
the new works employed even greater
quantities and combinations of readymades
demonstrating the scale of Miller’s ambition,
and determination to prise a reaction out of
the viewer. Successful motifs from previous
pieces were worked up into exciting new
variants that attested to the maxim that
sometimes ‘bigger just is better’.
Outside the context of individual exhibitions
Miller’s work spills out into the grounds of
Great Brampton in the form of many minor
interventions through to an 8ft tall Victorian
flat iron, fabricated in fibreglass in The Stables,
which leaves a trail of flattened grass across
the lawn.
This permanent use by of Great Brampton
House as a testing ground for ideas is
supplemented by the energy and diversity
brought to the house, studios and grounds
by a disparate and diverse range of artists
and technicians who come and go, living and
working together, putting on exhibitions,
Opposite top, The Stables studio lunch with resident
artists Russell Maurice, Daniel Sparkes along with
Craig Barnes, Lukasz Dawid and Emily Fryer of
Down Stairs Opposite below, Credit: Martin Miller arranging a
gorilla on the gatepost of Great Brampton House
bouncing around ideas which Miller always
enjoys. As the art world looks for answers
as to what the future of an educational
institution could or should be; what galleries
could or should provide for its audience
and whom it’s audience should be; and
what artists could or should be doing with
their work, Miller hopes Great Brampton
House, Down Stairs, and The Stables
collectively have offered something exciting
and innovative in each of these areas in their
short incarnations to date, and hopes to
expand upon them even more in the coming
years, both in Miller’s work and the artists
whom visit, work and exhibit here.
Works…
Martin Miller
Alien Detention Centre
Signage, barriers, sprays, chocolate medicine, face masks
Dimensions variable
2012
Previous pages:
Instillation view of Fate Takes A Hand, Rubbish
Right:
Rubbish
24 films (duration 8sec - 47sec), TV monitors, DVD players.
Dimensions variable.
2012
Following page:
Fate Takes A Hand
C-type prints
80 x 120cm each
2012
Left:
The Death Of Capitalism
Coins, coffin, manequin, candelabra
224cm x 70cm x 65cm
2012
This page:
The Death Of Capitalism (detail)
Left:
Butt
Foam, card, gold leaf, urn
48cm x 89cm x 48cm
2012
This page:
Instillation view of Oops!, Butt, Baaa! 2012
Previous pages:
Neighbourhood Watch
Hoodies, manequins, mirrors
Dimensions variable
2012
Intstillation view of Ducks Out Of Water, Couch
Potato, Dinner Party, Fate Takes A Hand, Shoenami,
The Tree That Bears Fruit, Never Ending Story
Above:
Ducks out of water
Rubber ducks, bath, water, water pump
180cm x 60 x 156cm
2012
Dinner Party
DVD’s (duration 5:20mins–19:02mins), monitors, table, chairs, table dressings, wine, fruit
428cm x 169cm x 158cm
2012
Oil On Canvas
Readymade canvas, Sunflower oil
68cm x 98cm x 10cm
2011 - 2012
Couch Pototo
Antique doctors examination table, potato
190cm x 76cm x 124cm
2011
Still life
Found objects
60cm x 80cm x 23cm
2011
Shoenami
Ladies shoes, wardrobe
133cm x 189cm x 68cm
2011
Previous pages:
The Eye
C-Type print
120cm x 80cm
2012
Never ending story
Pages from The Wookey Hole Affair (Martin Miller 2007) arranged in a continuous loop
Dimensions variable
2012
Ambition
Polystyrene heads, glass
160cm x 151cm x 78cm
2011
Right:
Ambition (detail)
Previous page:
Long Live Capitalism (detail)
Right:
Long Live Capitalism
Fibreglass, PVC
208cm x 220cm x 98cm
2012
Onto A Pet’s Hamburger
Fibreglass, steel
310cm x 290cm x 193cm
2012
Head In The Sand
Manequin, sand
78cm x 102cm x 84cm
2012
Saw Head
Fibreglass bust, saw
78cm x 85cm x 36cm
2012
He sat so still
With his dog so bald
Rain fell on his coins so cold
So I am told
For hours he sat so still.
Shoppers passed
Joggers puffed
He sat so still
A crowd gathered, as crowds do
Police prodded and pulled
The bald dog growled
He sat so still.
Doorway
Mixed media, framed poem taken from
Disjointed Noughts (Martin Miller 2006) Left:
Summer of 1914
Broken glass, hammock, medal
Dimensions variable
2011
This page:
Summer of 1914 (detail)
The ten commandments
Mixed media
40cm x 60cm each
2012
The ten commandments (detail)
Left:
Poet-tree
Tree, barbed wire, poems torn from Disjointed Noughts (Martin Miller 2005)
Dimensions variable
2012
This page:
Poet-tree (detail)
The accident
Video (duration 2m54s), poem
Dimensions variable
2012
Rebel
Mixed media
Dimensions variable
2012
Left:
Instillation view of Self Portrait, Saw Head, Ducks Out Of Water
This page:
Self Portrait
Acrylic and collage on canvas
120 x 80cm
2012
Debt-chair
Deck chair with custom printed canvas
55cm x 83cm x 108cm
2012
Dirty Washing
Newpaper pages, washing line, pegs
Dimensions variable
2012
You’ve been mugged series
Left to right: I Remember Happy, Sip With Me, LOVE, Mugger Fucker
Digitally printed mugs
12cm x 9cm x 8cm
2012
You’ve been mugged series
Left to right: Work Not Want Not, To Begin..., Hand (front), Hand (back)
Digitally printed mugs
12cm x 9cm x 8cm
2012
Winner Takes All
Found panel
154cm x 73cm x 16cm
2011
Plant pot with sole
Mixed media
72cm x 1763cm x 71cm
2012
Flat House
Digital print on vinyl of photograph by Patti Boyd, wood
476cm x 280cm x 130cm
2012
No Foxes
PVC
25cm x 25cm
2011
Sheep
Fibreglass
72cm x 47cm x 58cm & 114cm x 47cm x 67cm
2012
Crockertree
Mixed media
Dimensions variable
2011
Do Not Touch
Fibreglass urn, child manequin
71cm x 183cm x 69cm
2012
Martin Miller pictured with
Onto A Pet’s Hamburger
© Martin Miller 2013
www.martinmiller.co.uk/art
ISBN XXXXXXXXXXXX
Above:
TIXE
Emergency exit sign
37cm x 22cm x 18cm
2012
All rights reserved, no part of this book may
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