Beyond the Frame - Opening Reception

This exhibition, inspired by the social critic bell hooks' seminal work, Reel to Real: Race, Sex, and Class at the Movies, invites viewers to critically examine the influence cinema has on our perceptions of self and others.

Through a series of paintings referencing 20th-century film and television, Miller interrogates the mechanisms of media consumption and its impact on our collective consciousness. The works presented here highlight the historical scarcity of authentic Black representation in mainstream media and question the systems of power that claim ownership. Miller’s images further delve into ways popular cinematic narratives perpetuate and challenge structures of oppression, class stratification, and capitalist ideologies, urging the re-evaluation of their societal implications. These opulent paintings freeze moving images into permanent icons that reclaim, recontextualize and monumentalize cinematic moments, thereby fostering deeper dialogues about identity, power, and our visual culture.

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