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WARDELL MILAN

MORE ACTION! MORE EXCITEMENT! MORE EVERYTHING! AMERIKA! 3.27–5.2.26

WARDELL MILAN

MORE ACTION! MORE EXCITEMENT! MORE EVERYTHING! AMERIKA! 3.27–5.2.26

Building upon a conceptual foundation in photography, Wardell Milan’s multimedia practice explores the inherent dualisms of desire and violence, fantasy and history, and marginalization and freedom. Recombining photographic elements with paint, graphite, and oil pastel, Milan’s subjects position the human form as a site of vulnerability and transformation. More Action!... presents an ongoing body of work that addresses the dynamic and increasingly disorienting landscape of contemporary American society. Oscillating between personal examination and universal experience, Milan captures the present moment as a constant negotiation of emotional and societal extremes. The works on view in More Action!... range from intimately scaled paintings to largescale mixed-media compositions. Milan experiments with new materials, including the incorporation of sculptural elements and mosaic-like layering, to create distinct fields of texture and space. The highly saturated color palette—featuring blaring golds, hot pinks, and fluorescent teals—lends Milan’s works a hallucinatory intensity characterized by material and psychological indulgence. Milan’s Amerika series takes inspiration, in both title and thematic concerns, from Erykah Badu’s 2008 album New Amerykah Part One (4th World War). Echoing the sociopolitical commentary and scenic narratives in Badu’s songwriting, Milan’s Amerika comes to life as a collection of surreal, frenetic vignettes—an exaggerated vision of Americana that posits action as both a violent and connective force. National symbols and pastimes appear within acts of depravity or cataclysmic decline, such as the potentially futile effort in Amerika 23 to rescue the Statue of Liberty from a gaping sinkhole. Amerika 16 depicts a nude, two-headed Trump onstage, riding an inflated penis draped in the American flag. The stage floor is marked with pieces of air-dry clay painted black and wrapped in gold leaf, a visual reference to Gilded Age excess and what truly lies beneath a surface of glitz and glamour. In Amerika 15, the garish casino setting recalls the simulacra of the Las Vegas Strip, insulating its guests from the perceptible passage of time within a theater of losses and potential wins. These bold, satirical images are interspersed with moments of intimacy and figurative portraits, preserving the possibility of interconnection and self-possession amidst the chaos. Placed above the large-scale works are a series of portraits, gazing out upon the surrounding pandemonium and the gallery visitors themselves. Set against vivid yellow backdrops, each of Milan’s “witnesses” comprehend the state of the world with an expression of pure emotion inscribed upon their face: a gasp of shock, a furrow of confusion, a beam of joy.

Wardell Milan (born 1977, Knoxville, Tennessee) received his BFA from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (2001), and his MFA from Yale University (2004), both in photography. Selected solo exhibitions include Modern Utopia at Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, California (2024); Bluets & 2 Years of Magical Thinking, Sikkema Malloy Jenkins, New York (2023); Wardell Milan: Recent Work at the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College, Claremont, California (2023); and Amerika. God Bless You If It’s Good to You at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, New York (2021). Milan is the recipient of numerous awards, including Artist in Residence, Civitella Ranieri Foundation, Umbertide, Italy (2024); Joan Mitchell Painters & Sculptors Grant (2019); Artist in Residence, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation (2017); and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, New York (2007). His work is included in the public collections of the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California; Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

Amerika 15, 2026 Acrylic, graphite, pastel, oil pastel, color pencil, gesso, gold metal leaf, silver, metal leaf, acrylic ink, pen, ink, china marker, cut-and-paste paper on paper 59 3/4 × 70 7/8 inches (151.8 × 180 cm) Framed: 64 1/4 × 75 3/8 inches (163.2 × 191.5 cm)

Amerika 30, 2025 Graphite, pastel, oil pastel, color pencil, gold metal leaf, china marker on hand dyed paper 29 7/8 × 22 3/8 inches (75.9 × 56.8 cm) Framed: 32 1/4 × 24 3/4 inches (81.9 × 62.9 cm)

Amerika 32, 2025 Acrylic ink, silver metal leaf, acrylic, cut-and-paste paper on paper 15 7/8 × 11 7/8 inches (40.3 × 30.2 cm) Framed: 19 × 14 7/8 inches (48.3 × 37.8 cm)

Amerika 3, 2025 Graphite, color pencil, acrylic ink, pen, yupo, cut-and-paste paper on paper 12 × 9 inches (30.5 × 22.9 cm) Framed: 15 × 12 inches (38.1 × 30.5 cm)

Amerika 21, 2025 Graphite, pastel, oil pastel, cute-and-paste paper on paper 43 7/8 × 30 1/4 inches (111.4 × 76.8 cm) Framed: 47 7/8 × 34 1/4 inches (121.6 × 87 cm)

Amerika 4, 2025 Graphite, color pencil, ink, cut-and-paste paper on yupo 15 × 12 inches (38.1 × 30.5 cm) Framed: 12 × 9 inches (30.5 × 22.9 cm)

Amerika 27, 2025 Graphite, pastel, oil pastel, color pencil, gold metal leaf, china marker on hand dyed paper 29 7/8 × 22 3/8 inches (75.9 × 56.8 cm) Framed: 32 1/4 × 24 3/4 inches (81.9 × 62.9 cm)

Amerika 11, 2025-26 Watercolor, graphite, charcoal, pastel, oil pastel, gold metal leaf, acrylic, on paper 44 1/4 × 57 3/4 inches (112.4 × 146.7 cm) Framed: 48 1/2 × 62 inches (123.2 × 157.5 cm)

Amerika 23, 2026 Acrylic, graphite, pastel, oil pastel, color pencil, gesso, cut-and-paste paper on paper 64 1/4 × 63 inches (163.2 × 160 cm) Framed: 60 × 58 3/4 inches (152.4 × 149.2 cm)

Amerika 26, 2025 Graphite, pastel, oil pastel, color pencil, china marker on hand dyed paper 29 7/8 × 22 3/8 inches (75.9 × 56.8 cm) Framed: 32 1/4 × 24 3/4 inches (81.9 × 62.9 cm)

Amerika 14, 2025 Acrylic, graphite, pastel, oil pastel, color pencil, gesso, cut-and-paste paper on paper 59 3/4 × 70 1/2 inches (151.8 × 179.1 cm) Framed: 64 1/4 × 75 inches (163.2 × 190.5 cm)

Amerika 2, 2025 Watercolor, graphite, color pencil, acrylic ink, yupo, cut-and-paste paper on paper 12 × 8 7/8 inches (30.5 × 22.5 cm) Framed: 15 × 12 inches (38.1 × 30.5 cm)

Amerika 28, 2025 Graphite, pastel, oil pastel, china marker on hand dyed paper 29 7/8 × 22 3/8 inches (75.9 × 56.8 cm) Framed: 32 1/4 × 24 3/4 inches (81.9 × 62.9 cm)

Amerika 12, 2026 Acrylic, graphite, pastel, oil pastel, wood block print, acrylic, cut and paste paper on paper 59 1/2 × 72 1/4 inches (151.1 × 183.5 cm) Framed: 64 × 76 3/4 inches (162.6 × 194.9 cm)

Amerika 22, 2025 Graphite, pastel, ink, cut-and-paste paper on paper 41 7/8 × 56 5/8 inches (106.4 × 143.8 cm) Framed: 46 1/8 × 60 7/8 inches (117.2 × 154.6 cm)

Amerika 29, 2025 Graphite, pastel, oil pastel, color pencil, gold metal leaf, china marker on hand dyed paper 29 7/8 × 22 3/8 inches (75.9 × 56.8 cm) Framed: 32 1/4 × 24 3/4 inches (81.9 × 62.9 cm)

Amerika 24, 2026 Acrylic, graphite, pastel, oil pastel, color pencil, gesso, gold metal leaf, silver metal leaf, acrylic ink, pen, ink, china marker, cut-and-paste paper on paper 51 1/4 × 63 inches (130.2 × 160 cm) Framed: 55 1/2 × 67 1/2 inches (141 × 171.4 cm)

Amerika 9, 2025 Silver metal leaf, acrylic ink, metallic tinsel foil, cut-and-paste paper on paper 9 1/8 × 12 inches (23.2 × 30.5 cm) Framed: 12 × 15 inches (30.5 × 38.1 cm)

Amerika 7, 2025 Ink, graphite, china marker, cut-and-paste paper on yupo 12 × 8 7/8 inches (30.5 × 22.5 cm) Framed: 15 × 12 inches (38.1 × 30.5 cm)

Amerika 1, 2025 Acrylic, graphite, color pencil, acrylic ink, cut-and-paste paper on paper 10 7/8 × 13 7/8 inches (27.6 × 35.2 cm) Framed: 14 × 17 inches (35.6 × 43.2 cm)

Amerika 6, 2025 Silver metal leaf, metallic tinsel foil, cutand-paste paper on paper 13 × 10 3/4 inches (33 × 27.3 cm) Framed: 17 1/2 × 15 1/2 inches (44.5 × 39.4 cm)

Amerika 16, 2026 Acrylic, graphite, pastel, oil pastel, watercolor, color pencil, gesso, gold metal leaf, woodblock print, acrylic ink, air-dry clay, cut-and-paste paper on paper 51 1/2 × 48 1/2 × 1 1/4 inches (130.8 × 123.2 × 3.2 cm) Framed: 55 3/4 × 52 3/4 × 3 1/4 inches (141.6 × 134 × 8.3 cm)

Amerika 25, 2026 Graphite, pastel, oil pastel, color pencil, china marker on hand dyed paper 29 7/8 × 22 3/8 inches (75.9 × 56.8 cm) Framed: 32 1/4 × 24 3/4 inches (81.9 × 62.9 cm)

Amerika 5, 2025 Acrylic, gold metal leaf, yupo, cut-and-paste paper on paper 11 7/8 × 8 7/8 inches (30.2 × 22.5 cm) Framed: 15 × 12 inches (38.1 × 30.5 cm)

WARDELL MILAN Born in 1977, Knoxville, TN Lives and works in New York, NY EDUCATION 2004 MFA, Yale University, New Haven, CT 2001 BFA, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2026 More Action! More Excitement! More Everything! AMERIKA!, Sikkema Malloy Jenkins, New York, NY, March 27–May 2, 2026 2024 Modern Utopia, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA, March 21–May 24, 2024 2023 Bluets & 2 Years of Magical Thinking, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, NY, April 28– June 3, 2023 2022 Wardell Milan: Recent Work, Benton Museum of Art, Pomona College, Claremont, CA, October 15, 2022–July 23, 2023 2021 Amerika. God Bless You If It’s Good to You, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY, June 23–October 24, 2021, curated by Jasmine Wahi 2020 Death, Wine, Revolt: Uneventful Days, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA, October 29, 2020–January 15, 2021 2019 Parisian Landscapes, Blue Zenith, David Nolan Gallery, New York, NY, April 19–June 14, 2019 Parisian Landscapes, Blue in Green, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA, January 3– February 16, 2019

2018 Wardell Milan, ADAA | The Art Show, Park Avenue Armory, New York, NY, February 28–March 4, 2018 2017 Wardell Milan: PERSONA, Project for Empty Space, 2 Gateway Center, Newark, NJ, September 6–October 15, 2017 2015 The Charming Hour, David Nolan Gallery, New York, NY, September 10–October 17, 2015 2014 Show (Untitled) Parisian Landscapes, Osmos Address, New York, NY, March 5–April 11, 2014 2013 Kingdom or Exile: Parisian Landscapes, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, GA, September 27–December 29, 2013 2012 A Series of Inspiring Women, Louis B. James Gallery, New York, NY, March 4–April 14, 2012 2011 On Beauty, Annarumma 404 Gallery, Naples, Italy, May 5–September 15, 2011 2010 Landscapes! Romance, Recession & Rottenness, Clough-Hanson Gallery, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, October 22–December 8, 2010 2009 Landscapes! Romance, Recession, & Rottenness, Taxter & Spengemann Gallery, New York, NY, December 12, 2009–February 6, 2010 Wardell Milan: Drawings of Harlem, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, November 12, 2009–March 14, 2010 2008 Hercules & The Love Affair, Franklin Art Works, Minneapolis, MN, November 7, 2008– January 2, 2009

Power!, Testosterone! They looked ferocious with heavy sexual overtones, Taxter & Spengemann Gallery, New York, NY, January 17–February 16, 2008 2006 Desire and the Black Masseur, Samson Projects, Boston, MA, April 28–May 27, 2006 2005 Wardell Milan, Taxter & Spengemann Gallery, New York, NY, November 19–December 21, 2005 GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2026 A View, Sikkema Malloy Jenkins, New York, NY, January 9–February 7, 2026 2025 From the Studio: Fifty-Eight Years of Artists in Residence, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, November 15, 2025– February 28, 2026 Sign O the Times: or Buck-in-Hamm-Palace?, LeRoy Neiman Gallery, Columbia University, New York, NY, September 5– October 5, 2025, curated by william córdova All of Me with All of You: LGBTQ+ Art Out of the Collection, The Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY, June 7–September 14, 2025 Queer Love, Stephen Friedman Gallery, New York, NY, April 17–May 21, 2025 a field of bloom and hum, Tang Teaching Museum, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, February 14–July 20, 2025 Black Ecologies in Contemporary American Art, Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College, Claremont, CA, February 13–June 29, 2025 2024 Ancestral: Afro-Americas, Museum of Brazilian Art FAAP, São Paulo, Brazil, October 29, 2024–January 25, 2025, curated by Ana

Beatriz Almeida and Lauren Haynes Fragments of Memory, Menil Drawing Institute, Houston, TX, September 20, 2024– January 26, 2025, curated by Kelly Montana Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection, The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom, May 18, 2024–January 5, 2025 Healing, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, NY, May 3–June 22, 2024 Fragmented Bodies, Galleria Lorcan O’Neill Roma, Rome, Italy, April 5–June 2024 2023 Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage, Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN, September 15–December 31, 2023; traveling to: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, February 18–May 12, 2024; The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, July 6–September 22, 2024 Strike Fast, Dance Lightly: Artists on Boxing, The FLAG Art Foundation / The Church, Sag Harbor, New York, NY, June 16–August 11, 2023; Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL, October 26, 2024–March 9, 2025 Please Stay Home, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, February 3–April 9, 2023, curated by Makeda Best 2022 Lux et Veritas, NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, FL, April 2, 2022–January 8, 2023, curated by Bonnie Clearwater 2021 Our Whole, Unruly Selves, San José Museum of Art, San Jose, CA, November 19, 2021– June 26, 2022 Mel Kendrick, David Hartt and Wardell Milan, David Nolan Gallery, New York, NY, April 15–May 28, 2021

2020 Dawoud Bey, John Edmonds, Wardell Milan, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada, October 31, 2020–December 5, 2021 2019 Young, Gifted, and Black: The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art, Osilas Gallery at Concordia College New York, Bronxville, NY, September 24– December 7, 2019; traveled to: Lehman College Art Gallery at Lehman College City University of New York, The Bronx, NY, February 8–May 2, 2020; Gallery 200 at the University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, September 2–December 11, 2021; Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, February 1–May 27, 2022; The Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, July 28– December 19, 2022; Victoria H. Myhren Gallery at the University of Denver, Denver, CO, January 19–April 30, 2023; Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, September 8– December 9, 2023; Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Santa Cruz, CA, August 23–December 29, 2024, curated by Antwaun Sargent and Matt Wycoff Wars, David Nolan Gallery, New York, NY, September 12–November 2, 2019 2018 Echoes: Reframing Collage, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL, October 11–December 21, 2018 Queens International: 2018 Volumes, Queens Museum, NY, October 7, 2018–February 24, 2019 Constructing Identity in America (1766–2017), Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ, September 1, 2018–January 5, 2020 Vision of the Other Worlds, Sargent’s Daughters, New York, NY, May 31–June 24, 2018

The Beyond: Georgia O’Keeffe and Contemporary Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, May 26–September 3, 2018, curated by Lauren Haynes, Curator of Contemporary Art, Crystal Bridges; and Chad Alligood, Independent Curator; traveled to North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, October 13, 2018–January 20, 2019; New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT, February 22–June 2, 2019 2016 George Grosz: Politics and His Influence, David Nolan Gallery, New York, NY, September 8–October 22, 2016 Big Art / Small Scale, Philip Slein Gallery, Saint Louis, MO, May 20–June 25, 2016 Making & Unmaking, Camden Arts Centre, London, United Kingdom, June 19– September 18, 2016, curated by Duro Olowu 2015 Rush20: 1995 – 2015, Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, Brooklyn, NY, November 15– December 20, 2015 Black: Color, Material, Concept, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, November 15, 2015–March 6, 2016, organized by Lauren Haynes, Associate Curator Greater New York, MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY, October 11, 2015–March 7, 2016 The Confident Line: George Grosz, Wardell Milan, Andy Warhol, David Nolan Gallery, NY, February 4–March 13, 2015 2014 Three thousand times, each hour, a different terrain: Titus Kaphar, Wardell Milan, Demetrius Oliver, Inman Gallery, Houston, TX, July 11–August 16, 2014 2013 Body Language, The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY, July 18, 2013–January 23, 2014

Glitter and Folds, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, February 6–March 31, 2013 11 Dimensions: Titus Kaphar, Demetrius Oliver, Wardell Milan, Louis B. James Gallery, New York, NY, June 7–July 26, 2013 2012 Pose/Re-Pose: Figurative Works Then and Now, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA, July 23–December 9, 2012 Long Shadows, Inman Gallery, Houston, TX, April 13–May 19, 2012 2011 Don’t Get High On Your Own Supply, David Castillo Gallery, Miami, FL, November 12– December 31, 2011 The Bearden Project, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, August 16– October 21, 2012 Mixed Signals: Artist Consider Masculinity in Sports, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, May 26–August 7, 2011 Stargazers: Elizabeth Catlett in Conversation with 21 Contemporary Artists, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York, NY, January 27–May 29, 2011 2010 Looking Back: The Fifth White Columns Annual Group Show, White Columns, New York, NY, December 11, 2010–January 29, 2011 Quadruple-Consciousness, Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2010– January 30, 2011, curated by Malik Gaines Roundabout, City Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand, September 25, 2010–January 16, 2011 2009 Collected. Propositions on the Permanent Collection, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, April 2–June 28, 2009 Decoding Identity: I Do It For My People, The Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, CA, January 23–March 8, 2009

Time – Life Part I, Taxter & Spengemann Gallery, New York, NY, May 21–June 20, 2009 2007 Midnight’s Daydream: Titus Kaphar, Demetrius Oliver and Wardell Milan, Artists-inResidence, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, July 18–October 28, 2007 Wardell Milan & Kalup Linzy, Context Gallery, Londonderry, Ireland Blur, Arndt and Partner Gallery, Berlin, Germany, December 1, 2007–January 12, 2008 2006 Queens International 2006: Everything All at Once, Queens Museum of Art, New York, NY, October 1, 2006–January 14, 2007 Black Alphabet, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland, September 22– November 19, 2006, curated by Maria Brewinska The Searchers, White Box, New York, NY, curated by Patricia Maloney Being There, Ingalls & Associates, Miami, FL, September 9–October 8, 2006 25 Bold Moves, House of Campari, New York, NY, May 5–May 21, 2006 2005 Frequency, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, November 9, 2005–March 12, 2006 Greater New York, MoMA PS1, New York, NY, March 13–September 26, 2005 Being There, Cuchifritos, New York, NY, December 17, 2005–February 4, 2006 Supersonic, Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, April 15–May 15, 2005 La Beauté de l’Enfer, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, Belgium 2004 Homemade World, Reconstructed Images in Photograph, Rush Arts Gallery, New York, NY

Notorious Impropriety, Samson Projects, Boston, MA, September 17–October 29, 2004 Skillz, Ingalls & Associates, Miami, FL, April 7– May 7, 2004 PUBLIC COLLECTIONS The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON, Canada Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY Daniel & Florence Guerlain Contemporary Art Foundation, Paris, France Dartmouth Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO Hall Art Foundation Collection Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA The Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College, Annandaleon-Hudson, NY Kupferstichkabinett Berlin, Berlin, Germany The Menil Collection, Houston, TX Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago, IL The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY UBS Art Collection