Stormie Mills

Stormie Mills

Mills in 2015
Born 1969 (age 45–46)
Wales, UK
Nationality Australian
Style Street art
Website
stormiemills.com

Stormie Mills is a street/visual artist operating out of Perth, Western Australia.[1]

Life and career

Mills was born in 1969 in a coastal town in northern Wales and moved with his family to Perth, Western Australia when he was five.[2] He attended Wesley College and Guildford Grammar School in Perth along with his brothers Barnaby and Oliver. In 1984 Mills discovered spray-paint and painting in the streets,[3][4] and at nearly 17 years of age his parents sent him to stay with his grandmother back in Wales for a month until his parents paid for his chosen holiday in New York and brother met him in New York in 1986.[2] During that time he travelled to London and New York.

When I went to New York in 1986 to meet my parents and brother Oliver, I met a bunch of guys that were subway painters and I saw the work of Jenny Holzer and John Fekner. These people were the godfathers of street art. They had a movement, and I was so impressed by them that it certainly changed the way I was thinking and steered my work into another direction.
—Stormie Mills[5]

In 1989 he married Paula and they later divorced.

Mills returned to Perth just before his 21st birthday.[2] In 1997 he held his first solo exhibition in Perth.[6]

In 2002 he achieved a Commendation Award in the "City of Perth Invitational Art Award".[7] He has been commissioned to create works in Los Angeles and London and in 2002 was invited to create large scale murals across Greece in preparation for the Olympics[6] achieving international acclaim for his work.[4][7]

In 2003 he was invited to produce a limited edition toy, Toy2R, which was retailed in Tokyo and New York.[7] He was also invited to produce work for a group show at the Adicolor Studios in Berlin and has been invited to participate in group shows in Tokyo and Taiwan in October 2006.

In May 2005 was invited to participate in a show in London to launch the Thames and Hudson publication, Graffiti World, where he was invited as a guest speaker at the London Institute of Contemporary Arts.[7]

In 2007 Mills married Melissa Lekias (a public relations professional)[8] in Oaxaca, Mexico.[9]

In 2009, Mills was among six urban artists (together with Timid, Remi/Rough, System, Juice 126 and Derm) who travelled to the west coast of Scotland to transform an abandoned village,[4][10] Polphail near Portavadie. Over four days the artists decorated the grey walls of the village. A short film, Ghost Village, was made documenting the project and was screened at the London Film Festival.[4][10] In the same year his work was exhibited at the annual Art Basel exhibition in Miami Beach, Florida, where he has been invited back twice.

References

  1. ↑ Babiolakis, Madeleine (28 September 2010). "From ghetto brick to gallery white". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Evans, Kathy (3 August 2011). "Streets Ahead". The Age. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  3. ↑ "Writing on the wall". The West Australian. 17 January 2004. p. 6.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Simpson, Alex (21 September 2011). "Stormie Mills". GQ Magazine Australia. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  5. ↑ Dimasi, Rita. "Stormie Mills Graffiti World". Artshub. Metro Gallery. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Osburn, Chris (July 2008). "Chris Osburn interviews Stormie Mills". Whitehot Magazine. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "Stormie Wells solo show". PerthNow (The Sunday Times). 14 May 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  8. ↑ McRae, Ross (2 June 2012). "Dianella Disco House Sold". The West Australian. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  9. ↑ Caccetta, Wendy (17 June 2007). "Perth Confidential". News.com.au. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "The Ghostvillage Project". BBC Films. Retrieved 31 January 2012.

External links