Public Events

Join us for a guided tour of Edgar Miller: Anti-Modern, 1917-1967 and The Spaces We Call Home with guest curator Dr. Marin R. Sullivan.

Edgar Miller: Anti-Modern, 1917-1967 —the first retrospective and most comprehensive solo presentation of Miller’s work to date— highlights the achievements of the artist’s rich, multifaceted career, but situates his output within the broader cultural histories of Chicago and the creative communities in which he worked and lived.

The Spaces We Call Home features six artists and designers based in or with strong ties to Chicago whose work straddles, draws from, and complicates divisions between the fields of architecture, design, and fine art. Using a diverse array of materials, techniques, and traditions these creative practitioners grapple with the complexities of placemaking across time and space, interrogating and reflecting on the layered socio-spatial histories of built environments.

Marin R. Sullivan, PhD, is a Chicago-based art historian, curator, consultant, educator, and writer. She specializes in the histories of modern and contemporary sculpture, especially its interdisciplinary, intermedial dialogues with photography, design, and the built environment. Sullivan is the author of Alloys: American Sculpture and Architecture at Midcentury (Princeton University Press, 2022) and Sculptural Materiality in the Age of Conceptualism (Routledge, 2017) as well as numerous catalogs, essays, and articles.

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Throughout his career, Edgar Miller (1899-1993) was commissioned to create graphic designs for several major Chicago companies, including Marshall Field’s, WGN Radio, and the Container Corporation of America. Miller’s design work drew from a wide range of influences such as early expressionism, Mexican muralism, traditional and folk artistry, and abstract modernism, featuring his signature style of striking, modern layouts with highly detailed figurations. 

In conjunction with DPAM’s current exhibitions, please join us for a conversation about graphic design moderated by curator Marin R. Sullivan. Presenters are HOUR Studio, exhibition designers for Edgar Miller: Anti-Modern, 1917-1967 and The Spaces We Call Home, as well as its accompanying publication; and Sunroom, who designed a zine as a whimsical interpretation of a tour of Miller’s interiors. 

HOUR is a design studio specializing in print, web, and environments. Composed by Tobey Albright and Mollie Edgar, HOUR collaborates with artists, architects, designers, and cultural institutions. 

Sunroom is a Chicago-based risograph print studio, independent label, and online archive developed and operated by Clare Byrne and Jacob Stolz. It serves as their collaborative vessel for visual art and music, providing them with a space to publish their boldest, exploratory, sometimes amorphous creative work. 

Image credits:

Collage of Edgar Miller interiors by HOUR Studio.

Photos: © 2008 Alexander Vertikoff | Alexander Vertikoff Archive.

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