About the artist:
Born: Los Angeles, California (1958) Lives & Works: Los Angeles, California John Millei is an artist born in 1958 in Los Angeles. He currently lives and works in Pasadena, California. He works as an associate professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Pasadena, at the Claremont Graduate University and at the Southern California Institute of Architecture. His style oscilates between abstraction and expressionism. He uses mainly secondary and tertiary colors in a succession of gestural traits composing a thick layer of paint. Alternating between organic and geometric shapes and drawings, Millei's work gathers the feelings of the observers. His pieces confronts the viewer with himself instead of a confrontation with his pieces. Contemplation leads to confusion. He creates confusion with paintings that are almost a prose. His paintings has been the used in book besides the works of great artists and exhibited by prestigious galleries: "Procession, Robert Creely, Kevin O Sullivan, Mitchell Kane, John Millei", "For Surfing, Jamie Brisick, Dennis Philipps", "Terra incognita"..... He is regularly acclaimed by the press and by documentary directors. SOLO EXHIBITIONS: 1995 "Paintings", Ace Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA 1994 "Paintings", Ace Gallery, New York, NY 1992 "Paintings and Drawings on Vellum, Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1991 "Drawings," Marc Jancou Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland "Paintings & Drawings," Ace Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA 1990 "Drawings," Ace Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA 1988 Marc Richards Gallery, Los Angeles, CA "Drawings," Thomas Babeor Gallery, La Jolla, CA 1987 Marc Richards Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1984 Orlando Gallery, Sherman Oaks, CA 1982 Orlando Gallery, Sherman Oaks, CA 1981 Orlando Gallery, Sherman Oaks, CA SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS: 1994 "Recent Publications - Editions and Monoprints", Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1992 "I to Eye 2", Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1991 "Recent Acquisitions of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, Part Two: 1950-1991," California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA "Three Painters," Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA 1990 "L.A./Brazil Projects 1990," Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. Exhibition travels to Art Museum of Sao Paulo, Brazil David Beitzel Gallery, New York, NY (catalogue) "In Perfect Silence," Art Center, Pasadena, CA (catalogue) "The Ends of Painting: The Edges of Abstractions," Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, curated by David Pagel (catalogue) "Four Abstract Painters," Claremont College, Claremont, CA "The Spirit of Our Time," Contemporary Arts Council, Santa Barbara, CA "Physical Abstraction," Ace Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA 1988Marc Richards Gallery, Los Angeles, CA "After Abstract," Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA (catalogue) 1987 "Drawings," Marc Richards Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1984 "Small Works National," Zanel Gallery, Rochester, NY "Interiors-Exteriors," Gensler & Associates, Los Angeles, CA "Drawing-9 Artists," Swope Gallery, Los Angeles, CA