Passersby who glance into the front window of the DePaul Art Museum are greeted by long rolls of wallpaper cascading from the ceiling. On the first floor, museum attendees view various artworks of diverse mediums completed by Chicago-based artist Edgar Miller (1899–1993) and his collaborators.
The “Edgar Miller: Anti-Modern, 1917–1967” exhibition officially opened its door alongside its companion show, “The Spaces We Call Home,” Sept. 12. These exhibitions will be available until Feb. 23, 2025.
History of Art and Architecture Adjunct Professor Marin R. Sullivan guest curated these exhibitions as part of the city-wide initiative of the Terra Foundation for American Art, “Art Design Chicago.” This initiative works with local artists, art organizations and curators to produce exhibitions that showcase Chicago’s art scene.
Sullivan began working on the “Edgar Miller: Anti-Modern” exhibition about six years ago in partnership with Edgar Miller Legacy, a nonprofit organization that preserves and promotes the works of Miller. Never before has there been a full, retrospective exhibition of Miller’s work that showcases the entirety of his practice, Sullivan said.
“Edgar Miller was not only a Chicago-based practitioner, but also did a lot of work in DePaul’s backyard,” Sullivan said. “He (has) projects in Lincoln Park and in Old Town; it’s not just a local show, it’s a hyper-local exhibition to have at DePaul University.”
Some challenging aspects of putting together this show, Sullivan said, were tracking down Miller’s work – held in different private and public collections – as well as selecting the piece that could be featured in the museum space offered.
According to Sullivan, DPAM’s permanent collection is home to over 100 works by Miller — the rest of his body of work is either dispersed, fragmented or lost. It was important to Sullivan to represent Miller’s diverse creative output.
“Miller was a polymath, a multifaceted creative practitioner,” Sullivan said. “An architect, a designer, a curator, a fine artist, an illustrator — he did everything. We really wanted to make sure that everything in the show gave an idea of that.”
According to Executive Director of Edgar Miller Legacy Zac Bleicher, after his death in 1993, Miller’s work fell into obscurity with only hundreds of people remembering him, many of whom lived in the buildings that feature his installations.
“(Miller’s) work has always been public, (but) not necessarily focused on who created it,” Bleicher said. “He was not pushing to have his name published in magazines. He was not writing a teaching manual for his particular art. Nothing like that was ever published.”
In the fall of 2023, Sullivan hosted a class dedicated to the creation of the first single catalog of Miller’s work.
Prior to its publication, there was no primary chronology documenting Miller at length. Emily Bylsma, now working at DPAM, was one of the students involved in the creation of this catalog. In addition to a traditional chronology, Blysma said the students included vignettes to try to encompass more of Miller’s several mediums, multiple collaborations and lived experiences at length.
“We had to go through all sorts of archival materials, reach out to the different places he worked on, and ask them questions about his life,” Bylsma said. “There was just very little written about him; there was just a paper there, a paper there, a news article here and there. We were able to draw on that and make a pretty complete chronology.”
The companion exhibition, “The Spaces We Call Home” features six contemporary artists and designers who share a connection to Chicago — Azadeh Gholizadeh, Kazuki Guzmán, Ania Jaworska (in collaboration with Zack Ostrowski), Roland Knowlden, Sharon and Guy, and Claudia Weber.
Weber made new work in direct response to Miller for the exhibition.
“(Miller) was challenging the norm and how we live, that intrigues me,” Weber said. “When I have a chance to work with such a space I, of course, jump at it because it is an exciting opportunity to respond.”
Sullivan said she is grateful for the opportunity to put a spotlight back on Miller, his collaborators and his contributions that helped to shape the urban landscape of Chicago.
“There’s a lot that makes people smile in the exhibition and, for me, that always is really welcome these days,” Sullivan said. “My hope is that students will come in. Miller provides a really nice opportunity to think about the ways in which there’s no limits [to art].”
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