Incurable Romantic Seeks Dirty Filthy Whore

Incurable Romantic Seeks Dirty Filthy Whore is an exquisite example of Miller’s quintessential, biting and satirical sense of humour characterising his whole oeuvre but especially crystallising in his Penguin Series.The original oil painting for this digital pigment print was produced in 2012 by the artist, currently held in a Private Collection after being in the possession of Ingleby Gallery in Edinburgh, who had purchased it for Miller’s exhibition Harland Miller: Overcoming Optimism in 2012–13. It is one of the later works in the series Miller started in 2001 upon stumbling across a box of second-hand Penguin books near the Notre Dame in Paris. In this iconic series Miller explores the relationship between the written word, form and image, and the audience’s perception through inserting his own humorous and at times provocative titles into the well-known designs of the vintage books that often voice social critique. These works nod to influences of Abstract Expressionism, Colour Field and Pop Art, as well as Miller’s literary influences like Ernest Hemingway. Incurable Romantic Seeks Dirty Filthy Whore Now has multiple versions within the series with the title shown across different background colours, which is how Miller plays with the meaning of language and the viewer’s psychological engagement with his texts. This print is unique in that instead of his usual monochrome cover, he uses a geometrical illustration with colourful circles and black lines in a minimalist style.