Internationally acclaimed artist and writer Harland Miller returned to York Art Gallery today to launch ‘XXX’, a new exhibition showcasing paintings and works on paper from his renowned ‘Letter Paintings’ series which opens to the public on Friday 14 March.

Inspired by his upbringing in 1970s Yorkshire and an itinerant lifestyle in New York, New Orleans, Berlin and Paris during the 1980s and ’90s, Miller creates colourful and graphically vernacular works that convey his love of popular language and attest to his enduring engagement with its narrative, aural and typographical possibilities.

Says Miller, who was born in York: "It’s great to be coming back to York again with this new show. Five years ago we opened the exhibition ‘York, So Good They Named it Once’, so it’s kind of appropriate in some sense to be doing it once more… but this time with an entirely new body of work which has never been seen anywhere all together before, so it’s very exciting.

"This show is entitled ‘XXX’ but it doesn’t flout any indecency laws so it should stay open longer than the last one, which was slated to run for 6 months but closed after only a few weeks (as was the whole of the city) due to lock down, so I never did find out what being given the keys to the city actually unlocked. But York is a city of perpetual mystery and history, including my own, and it always draws me back. It’s especially exciting to be sharing this with everyone - not once, but twice."

The exhibition’s themes will extend beyond the indoor gallery spaces and into the gardens, through a creative interpretation of Miller’s vibrant ‘Far Out’ diptych (2022) using a selection of flowering plants.

Visible from the ground and the Gallery’s balcony, the plantings will be sown on two wired raised planting beds on the sloping grass verge behind the Gallery which leads up to the wildflower meadow. This floral installation will be planned so flowers appear from the end of June, peaking during the summer season. The exhibition is also accompanied by a programme of events including a Q&A with the artist, plus community activities to inspire, inform and involve all.

A nationally important exhibition for York, Yorkshire and the UK, ‘Harland Miller: XXX’ runs from 14 March until 31 August 2025.

For more information on York Art Gallery go to: www.yorkartgallery.org.uk