B I O G R A P H Y
LARRY MILLER is a prominent figure in the development of installation and performance art movements, presenting work in alternative spaces such as 112 Greene Street Gallery, Franklin Furnace, PS 1, and The Kitchen, dating from his first solo show in New York City in 1970. Works by Miller have been considered groundbreaking in their early origination of unexpected means and materials, frequently scouting territories on the edges of art arenas with a combined sense of humor and ambiguity. He is known for his explorations of unusual subjects, such as paranormal intelligence and his mother’s psyche, and for his use of unconventional methods, working with hypnosis and “power objects.”
By 1970 he had become involved with the international Fluxus collective, collaborating with others who shared in a view of an iconoclastic approach to art that now has admirers among many younger artists. During his long association with Fluxus, Miller has organized many concerts and exhibits, conducted numerous events in parks, museums and public spaces, presenting to an increasing audience. In addition to his own contributions, Miller’s is known for his video documentation of Fluxus events and personages. His one-on-one dialog interviews with members of the group have been instrumental in illuminating its influences on conceptual, intermedia and performance art of today. Because of his multi-faceted contributions to the collective, he has been cited as “a living, breathing example of Fluxus.” (Stephen Aiken, in his 2023 book Artists in Residence: Downtown New York in the 1970s)
Since the 1980s, Miller has produced a series of works concerning DNA ownership and genetic science that have been shown extensively in touring exhibitions on the subject. He is widely recognized for his pioneering public action, Genetic Code Copyright Certificate, published in eight languages, which has enlisted thousands of individuals who participated in his work by proclaiming ownership of their unique genetic rights. (www.creativetime.org). Miller’s Genomic License series, which identified DNA as the material of art as much as of science, wryly investigates the possible consequences of the patent commodification of life at the invisible molecular level.
Miller’s works are in many important collections and have been shown in museums and institutions worldwide including Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, International Center of Photography, Whitney Museum of American Art, Reina Sofia Madrid, Henry Buhl Collection, The Getty Research Institute, The Bonotto Foundation, Archivio Conz, Centre Georges Pompidou, Walker Art Center and others.
Born in 1944 in the Midwest, Miller settled in New York City for almost 50 years. He now lives and works in the Hudson Valley, New York.
Larry Miller, Artist • Wikipedia Entry
Fluxus • Wikipedia Entry (see section: Blurring Boundaries)
