On September 4th, 2019, Saint Xavier University’s Art Gallery held artist Joe Mills. The exhibition will be available for viewing until September 17th 2019.
Joe Mills is a Chicago based artist,Illustrator, and a full-time elementary school teacher. Much of Mills’s artwork are illustrations of the city of Chicago, which is what he is best known for.
Having also done freelance, Mills has a list of popular clientele including Bank of America’s Chicago Marathon, Chicago History Museum, the Chicago White Sox, Depaul University, Chicago Reader, and more.
He has come to know more about the city, and feels as if it only further inspires him to create more artwork dedicated to Chicago.
“Every time I think, like, ‘this will be the last one’ I think of another idea. I think I just at this point I’ve fallen in love with icons and landmarks, all the different little pieces of Chicago, so there’s a lot that I still feel that I can do and I’ve learned so much about the city now and kind of what it means to me. That it never seems to stop with me.“
His Chicago artwork is done in typography and calligrams, which is the approach in which he expresses most of his work.
Typography is known as the art of arranging type in a way that is expressive, all while remaining legible and readable. Calligrams are also an expression of type, but instead the type forms the image of the subject matter.
For Mills, calligrams are a “good challenge”; they demand rules and structure, which keeps him driven during the creative process. Mills finds that the act of researching, acquiring information, and plenty of planning is essential for his work.
When asked about his approach to his work, Mills explains “because of my time constraints, I probably spend more time in ‘work’ than I do in ‘play’’.
Much of Mill’s subject matter is not only inspired by Chicago, but also music artists. These artists, both local and famous, are depicted in calligraphic portraits, which are also featured in his exhibition.
Some of those well-known artists include Vince Staples, Beyonce, Chance the Rapper, Cardi B, and Childish Gambino.
When asked about the reasoning behind choosing those particular artists, Mills explains that he was inspired by their music.
When planning the design of the portraits, Mills must decide what pose, colors, and text he wishes to utilize in the design. Mills makes artistic decisions that he believes best encompasses the representation of who the artist is in the portrait.
Much of his illustrations are stylistically designed with a monochromatic color scheme, which Mills describes as a successful method in design.
The decision as to which text to use depends on whether or not Mills’s goal is to use just a few phrases or the text of an entire song. The decision is based off whether Mill’s simply wants to express his appreciation for the artist or a song in particular.
Mills continues to create more work, both dedicated to music artists and the city of Chicago. Mills finds himself more satisfied with his newer work because he feels as though he has accomplished better readability in his calligrams.
Joe Mills continues to challenge himself, finding new ways to improve his artwork and creative process.
To view his vast portfolio, you can visit his professional artist website at www.joemills.com.