Posted on Sep 6, 2010

“Meditations on Empire,” an exhibit by artist and Capital Region native Dan Mills, opened this summer in the Mandeville Gallery at the Nott Memorial and runs through Sept. 26. A closing reception and gallery talk with Mills is set for Thursday, Sept. 16, 5-7 p.m., at the Nott.

Director of Bucknell’s Samek Art Gallery, Mills has been exhibiting in galleries, museums and universities around the world for more than 25 years. Since the early 1990s, his work has addressed themes and imagery related to imperialism, cartography, landscape and hybrid composite portraits of U.S. leaders and cartoon characters.

The Mandeville show features a number of paintings and selected other works, including the “American Icons” as well as the satirical “U.S. Future State Atlas.” The accompanying 46-page, four-color catalogue contains an essay by noted art critic Eleanor Heartney.

“Mills’ work is a delightful combination of playful, tongue-in-cheek political commentary, and elegant, sophisticated compositions,” said Rachel Seligman, Mandeville director. “It’s ideal for a college gallery.”

Mills is a 1974 graduate of Niskayuna High. His parents, Virginia Ward Mills and the late E. Andrew Mills of Schenectady, exhibited extensively in the region and on Cape Cod for decades, and Virginia remains active with the Oakroom Artists of Schenectady.