Adam Miller has taken on a very ambitious task for himself: the creation of mythological and allegorical scenes that pose human figures in invented settings. The first phase of his career after art school -- painting large scale murals often inspired by Tiepolo -- came to an end after he realized that most of his clients simply wanted decorative backdrops. In his current easel paintings Miller has demonstrated an ambitious desire to re-visit and re-examinine mythological archetypes as they cope with challenging and contemporary situations. Miller has just turned 34 and his precocious transcendence of the norms of classical realism makes him an exciting and dynamic figure worth watching.

When I moved to New York City a few years back, I suspected that among the clusters of repurposed warehouses in North Brooklyn, there might exist the same type of camaraderie that has driven great art movements of the past. I had heard of a group of young painters developing figurative and narrative works that utilize the rich history of oil painting, and whose friendships intersected over studio visits and the casual sharing of secret techniques and inspirations.

My quest to find them was perhaps the quickest treasure hunt of all time. Upon inquiry, I was directed a mere two blocks from the L train, to a neighborhood sometimes referred to as East Williamsburg, Bushwick, or Morgantown, into a yellow-bricked, block-wide building, up a metal staircase and down a long Kubrickian hallway. And there, hiding in plain sight, was Adam Miller.

Approaching contemporary themes with classical painting styles, Adam Miller (who is featured in our current issue) and Richard T. Scott currently have a two-person show at Last Rites Gallery in New York titled “Effigies and Idols” alongside Santiago Caruso’s “Ars Obscura” (covered here.) Masterfully rendering the human body, Miller creates delicate, emotionally poignant-scenes that evoke Romanticism and science fiction alike.

Adam Miller (Hi-Fructose Vol. 26) paints the apocalypse with an airy touch of Romanticism. In his work, idyllic nudes are not mere eye candy, but rather symbols of escape from a corrupt society undergoing a catastrophic collapse. In his latest paintings, which are currently on view in Vered Gallery’s group show “Art on the Edge,” Miller writes a new chapter in his post-apocalyptic narrative. Titled Twilight in Arcadia and The Roses Never Bloomed So Red, the new works show the nude figures attacked by clothed hunters who appear to emerge from the world the nude figures tried to escape. For Twilight in Arcadia, artists Alexandra Pacula, Billy Norby and Martin Wittfooth posed as the hunters — a little wink to the attentive contemporary art fan.

This weekend, A 3 person group show called Solace is premiering at Booth Gallery in New York. This exhibition features the work of figurative artists Jean-Paul Mallozzi, Lou Ros, and Adam Miller. The artists’ works are collectively centered on themes regarding the universal struggle to retain memory and identity. Mallozzi and Ros each deal with the theme on an individual, existential basis. Miller ambitiously documents the experience of an entire nation in the act of redefining itself.

Adam Miller’s irreverent work is a clash of Baroque-style mystical scenes with violent and gritty contemporary life. Miller studied painting first through apprenticeship in his home state Oregon, and then studied at the Florence Academy of Art.

Having deeply studied the great old master’s technique, the American artist revives Raphael in the present, entirely in his own style, to create a unique oeuvre

Rising from the bottom of the canvas, as though from the depths of hell—and Adam Miller is a kind of Virgilian guide through the seething disorder of Quebec’s history—are scenes and figures alluding to the conflicts that marked the end of the 20th century in what was informally recognized as “a distinct society,” and finally formally recognized as “a nation within a united Canada.” The former event occurred in 2003 during the administration of Jean Chretien (1993-2003), the latter in 2006 during the administration of Stephen Harper (2006-2015)—both Prime Ministers are pictured in Miller’s masterpiece.

From afar, the painting could almost pass as a Baroque classic. Streams of celestial light pouring down. Dramatic depictions of battle and romance figuring prominently. Birds soaring through the sky with noble men and women entering the fray on terra firma.

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Adam Miller's Quebec, an oil-on-canvas painting in the style of the Old Masters, features characters from the province's founding all the way to figures from present-day Quebec.

Adam Miller: Contemporary history painting

New York artist depicts Quebec's role in Canadian history

QUEBEC

450 ANS D’HISTOIRE EN UN TABLEAU

Dépeindre 21 premiers ministres, quelques champs de bataille et plus de 450 ans d’histoire en un seul et même tableau ? C’est la commande un brin folle qu’a passée l’homme d’affaires québécois Salvatore Guerrera à l’artiste américain Adam Miller. Le résultat a été dévoilé récemment à la galerie Paul Booth, à New York

Quebec told in a fresco

Adam Miller, a young oregon painter living in New York, has just produced, at the request of a Montreal patron, a gigantic neo-realist fresco in which he interprets, in the academic way of the nineteenth century, the history of Quebec. With characters suspended in the light, between heaven and earth, the painter presents a vision of the political history of this country that his sponsor cherishes.

Lévesque, Trudeau, Marois et Couillard réunis en peinture