“Caldera” is Anthony Miler’s first solo exhibition at Galeria Cristobal in Mexico City. The exhibition title references the volcanic geological structures of calderas, large depressions in the earth created when a volcano collapses. The artist states this relates to his interest in contemplating geological time, specifically from our point of view within the Anthropocene.

On view are paintings that continue Miler’s interest in landscape without the depiction of human figures. Some works depict what has become a trademark “bird” image, which appear to assert that the body helps to define the space it’s in, via the limits of the bird’s apparent aerodynamic points stretching entirely to the edge of the canvases, the “body“ thereby defining the entire horizon rather than a figure depicted within a space. A choice which also flattens out the composition creating a graphic icon effect in direct contrast to the colorful gradients. This continues the artist’s concern of having a constant tension between what is pictorial and what is object oriented, having stated in different ways a commitment to the material process being the primary method of sculpting meaning.

While attempting to contemplate and find use for existential questions in these volatile times, Miler asserts moments of poetic stillness, whereby the viewer may have space to breathe-in questions, when so many voices today seem to offer only quick opinions of doom. Hope is a risk, some say a last resort, yet others may propose it is a disciplined action, a lifelong commitment to self reflection, learning, and quiet labor.