Harland Miller

“Brevity is no strength of mine,” says the British artist Harland Miller, who reimagines vintage Penguin book covers by adding sardonic titles that reveal his love of puns and wordplay. Something of a polymath, Miller first won critical acclaim as a writer with his debut novel, Slow Down Arthur, Stick to Thirty. Such is the brain-teasing nature of his art that in one work he reveals himself as a cynic, in another a hopeless romantic, while exploring his interest in typography and the emotional impact of colour.

Born in North Yorkshire in 1964, Miller left school at 16 to study graphic design. Realising he was too contrary for this career trajectory, in 1988 he enrolled at the Chelsea School of Art, graduating with a master’s degree before travelling the world. It was while painting in Paris that he bought a box of second-hand paperbacks and acquainted himself with the classic Penguin designs that would soon become his signature.

An influential painter, Miller cites the Colour Field works of the Abstract Expressionist Mark Rothko as a key influence. Working in a variety of mediums, from hand-finished screenprints to large-scale canvases, his notable works include Incurable Romantic Seeks Dirty Filthy Whore (2007).

Through his distinctive brand of Pop Art playfulness mixed with painterly sensibilities, Miller has amassed a loyal and diverse collector base that ranges from the famous art dealer Jay Joplin to George Michael, Sir Elton John and Ed Sheeran.