PROLOGUE | PERSONAL
Where are you from, where were you born and when? I was born in 1961 in Upper Swabian Altshausen. Where do you currently live and work? We commute between Berlin and Pistoia/Italy. What stations and people have influenced you? Long working stays in Chicago, New York, Sydney and Paris. Which writers do you currently find exciting and which books can be found on your bookshelf? I have a room-filling shelf with literature from A to Z. What are you currently reading and where do you keep the book handy? Books on horticulture and Italian Renaissance gardens. They always lie where I read them last. What music do you listen to and when? I listen to music all day. Preferably strong female voices like Ceu, Cesaria Evora, Cecile Mcloin Salvant or Canan Uzerle. If you were to cook something for us, what would it be? Panzanella. What is your favorite food? Panzanella. How do you feel about breakfast? A double espresso. What personality trait distinguishes you? A clear attitude.
Image above: Gerold Miller, Portrait, 2022, Courtesy the artist & Wentrup, Berlin
INTERVIEW | ARTIST + POSITION
To begin with, please tell us in a few sentences about your artistic vita.
From 1984 to 1989 I studied sculpture at Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Stuttgart with Prof. Jürgen Brodwolf.
In 1997, I finally moved to Berlin where I had a solo exhibition at Nationalgalerie am Hamburger Bahnhof in 2002.
Explain briefly your current project or upcoming exhibition
My first solo exhibition at WENTRUP.
What are you most concerned about at the moment; what keeps you busy?
My work.
How did you come to art? Why art?
You don’t plan on becoming an artist, certainly not a minimalist, you just become one. There was no alternative. Even during my school years I always tried to formulate my world by harmonizing forms and contents.
What makes you happy at the moment?
My family, my friends, my work, my garden in Italy.
What makes you afraid at the moment?
Indifference
Courtesy the artist & Wentrup, Berlin
Do you believe that art has a social responsibility? And what do you think can it achieve?
Each artist has a responsibility that should not be underestimated, both artistically and socially. I am here and do my work being aware of this, that is my contribution.
What makes up your art? What is your work about – what are the central themes?
To unite things in a very concentrated way, to very clearly set focus on the essentials. I only want to make work that is necessary, in an art historical sense or in the sense of “this is what I have to capture” and “this is what I want to do.” So I also try to focus on what is important to me.
What I strive for are artworks that are direct and unambiguous. I’ve always worked that way: When I say yes, I mean it. I’m not an in-between type of guy.
THE DEED | DAS WERK: Gerold Miller
The German artist Gerold Miller, who was born in Altshausen and now lives in Berlin and Pistoia (Italy), talks in his Interview about the central message of his artistic work.
Please describe the core theme and the central message of your work.
Freedom in any form is the most important thing to me. That is also the reason why I pursue this profession. With my art, I am constantly trying to explore the limits of freedom: What is possible, what is not? How far can I go? In this way, I frame the space in which I live and work. Perhaps you could even say that this space of action I have marked out is what I need in order to make art.
Introduce us to the work that you feel exemplifies, or best embodies, the message of your work.
These are the Verstärker, my first free-standing sculptures. During the Renaissance, a humanistic-universal worldview emerged for the first time, which defined man as a free individual who thinks and acts independently. In this context, free-standing sculpture was one of the greatest achievements and the strongest expression of this attitude, ideally embodying the vision of freedom and self-determination of each individual. The same is true for Verstärker.
Gerold Miller Studio, Verstärker 47 (1/3), 2022, 220 x 62.90 x 70.60 cm, Marble polished: Rosso Venezia, Courtesy the artist & Wentrup, Berlin
What is the goal of your art, your work – what do you want it to achieve for the viewer?
Participation. I don’t predefine what my works should represent or what one should see in them. That’s why I actively take responsibility for the viewer in the process of finding the image. Everyone is responsible for what they see or want to see.
THE DEED | THE WORK is a complementary and separately presented part of THE INTERVIEW IN|DEEDS with Gerlod Miller.
How do you protect yourself from too much inspiration these days?
There can never be too much inspiration.
How much in your work is planned beforehand – how much arises intuitively?
I plan everything.
What are your (next) goals?
They are in Italy: the remodeling of my studio. To expand collaboration with craftsmen who specialize in bronze casting and stone sculptures.
What is your position on the subject of faith? Do you have principles of faith or is there a motto?
Everything is feasible.
What project would you still like to realize if lack of time, courage or financial resources were not a factor?
I usually realize the things I set my mind to.
In your opinion, what are the attributes of good art?
Authenticity, originality and modernity
Is one born as an artist? Or is studying art obligatory from your point of view?
One is born as an artist, studying is the way to become one.
Who do you show a new work to first?
My wife, the curator Friederike Nymphius.
What does the first hour of your day look like?
Standing in front of the long window front with a double espresso in my hand, letting my eyes wander into the greenery.
Courtesy the artist & Wentrup, Berlin
In the age of the Internet of Things, are galleries still necessary (in your view)? If so, why and for what?
Nothing works without a gallery as a reliable partner. The galleries offer me the platform and I offer them the performance, it’s a mutual relationship.
Social media – blessing or curse from your point of view?
I work with Instagram. But it doesn’t influence my artistic work in any way. Despite all the appropriate criticism, social media can hardly be avoided today. There is no other forum in which images similarly spread all over the world in present time. For me, however, I can’t yet say where this will lead.
EPILOGUE | CURRENT
The exhibition of new works by Gerold Miller is on view at Galerie WENTRUP, Knesebeckstraße 95, 10623 Berlin-Charlottenburg from 29. April to 4. June 2022.
The written interview is an important medium to introduce artists, to spread their messages and to get in touch with art lovers. The interviews are not edited or shortened by our editors and are always reproduced in original sound. Therefore, we do not translate the interview into English or German unless the interviewee submits a translation.
