BY AARON HOWDLE
The Corridor Gallery are excited to announce an exhibition of work by the artist and illustrator, Ian Miller. The influence of Ian Miller’s work on drawing and illustration of the last forty years cannot be overstated.
Ian is one of a cohort of artists whose imagination shaped horror, fantasy and science fiction art when they blossomed in the 1970s and 1980s. Miller’s work, alongside artists including Roger Dean, Patrick Woodroffe, HR Giger and Jean Giraud, fired the imaginations of a generation. Their books were a rare inspiration in a world before CGI, video or the internet.
Miller’s early work included covers for HP Lovecraft novels and artwork for Ralph Bakshi’s animated film ‘Wizards’. In the 1980s, Miller produced artwork for the wildly popular ‘Fighting Fantasy’ game books, numerous illustrations for ‘Games Workshop’ and ‘Citadel Miniatures’ (producers of Warhammer), and art books for Roger Dean’s imprint, ‘Dragon’s Dream’.
Ian’s work always stands out. Where other artists of these genres look for a muscular realism, Ian’s work is something different, a glimpse into a darker world and a richer, more surreal imagination. It is art, in the traditions of Otto Dix, Kathe Kollwitz, Munch, Piranesi and Hieronymus Bosch, transcending categories such as ‘art’ or ‘illustration’. The uniqueness of his vision pulled many fantasy and gaming publications into the realm of art, in a way few other artists have achieved.
Ian has published collections of his artwork though ‘Dragon’s Dream’, and recently ‘Titan Books’. During his career Ian’s artwork has appeared in film and animation, magazines, graphic novels, books, galleries and many private collections. Ann and Jeff Vand Der Meer describe the artist’s work:
“Edgy and surreal, Miller combines intelligent geometric exactness with a messy, fluid sense of what it means to be human.”
The Corridor Gallery are extremely proud to present a selection of his work which will include both his tight pen and ink style and his loose expressionist styles of work. The exhibition will run from the 5th to the 31st October.
Nouvelle Art 