“Art has long held the potential for social activism—Pablo Picasso, Judy Chicago, Banksy, to name a few. British artist Claire Milner belongs on the list. Her large-scale paintings explore identity, gender, politics and fashion. But dearest to our heart are her depictions of animals and the environment. From poaching and climate change to habitat loss and captivity, Milner powerfully yet tenderly exposes the toll all of these take on wildlife and endangered species.. She also portrays people. In fact, Rihanna famously commissioned a 5’ x 5’ portrait of Marilyn Monroe made from 65,000 hand-applied Swarovski crystals. Its effect is magical, but here too Milner turns her keen eye for suffering on Monroe, painting Norma Jeane on the back, forever hidden from the world while the celebrity persona sparkles on display.”
Claire Milner has exhibited widely, including on the world’s biggest stage in the Blue Zone of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP26. Her work has been displayed in museum exhibitions including Ripon Cathedral, York Minster, Corinium Museum, Canal Museum, Pontefract Museum, Museum in the Park, as well as installations in Harrods and Whiteley's. The artist has raised substantial funds for conservation and environmental organisations through the sale of her paintings and she has won awards for raising awareness of threats facing keystone species. She has had many notable commissions, most famously a large-scale portrait of Marilyn Monroe for the global icon, Rihanna, who featured her work in a special edition of Vogue Paris in a profile of her favourite things. Milner’s paintings have been widely featured in the international media including the BBC, BLOUIN ARTINFO, Channel News Asia, Elle, Forbes, Huffington Post Arts, The Observer, Save Virunga, The Telegraph, The Times, Vogue Paris and Vogue India. An in-depth article entitled ‘Artist Claire Milner Addresses Climate Change, Mass Extinction and Pollution’ was featured in Musings Magazine which interviews thought-leaders and artists in the philanthropic and social impact space, published by Susan Rockefeller. In 2023 Milner was selected as one of fewer than ten artists worldwide for the inaugural Active Membership of the Gallery Climate Coalition, along with several blue chip galleries, institutions and museums from GCC’s global member base who have demonstrated that their organisation has implemented environmental sustainability best practice. Click for the artist’s Environmental Responsibility Statement.
GARDENERS OF EDEN - GARDENERS OF EDEN COLLECTION
“Claire Milner’s artwork is staggeringly beautiful. A majestic lion’s head made entirely from Swarovski crystals. A painting of a rhinoceros in Venice. Another of a beguiling woman riding an elephant. But upon closer inspection, it’s clear all is not well in these worlds—the elephant is in chains. The rhino has been commodified. Climate change, poaching, and loss of habitat are forcing already endangered animals into extinction. And that’s just what Milner wants us to think and talk about—and then take action.”
“Critically acclaimed as metaphors of our time, Claire’s paintings and collages explore the effects of humans on other species and ecosystems. With a visual language that speaks for the climate and nature, Claire creates highly nuanced animal and celebrity art with political and cultural undertones. Taking influence from art history, classical literature, fashion, architecture, science and the natural world, Claire produces a vigorously meaningful mosaic of literal and symbolic imagery. Incorporating precious stones and beautiful, illustrative colours, the artist creates bedazzling works that expose the war of consumption on nature.”
“The artistic opus of Claire Milner is largely drawn from the artist’s desire to inscribe environmentalist discourse in art. On a similar trail of examining human behaviour in crises, Milner considers topics of identity, gender and displacement. The artist uses her work as a device for social and political debate.”
“At first glance, these sparkling paintings are gorgeous images of endangered animals. Upon closer inspection, however, each work shows a much darker subtext. The hauntingly expressed consequences of poaching, climate change and habitat loss powerfully focus on the plight of some of the world’s most vulnerable species.”
LOGGING THE LEUSER ANIMA MUNDI COLLECTION
“Milner’s works highlight the human connection to the natural world and its impact via the encroachment upon critical ecosystems and species.”
PARADISE LOST ANIMA MUNDI COLLECTION
“With her dazzling crystal mosaics and probing mixed-media paintings, Claire Milner exposes the clash between abundance and extinction, and growth and decline. These highly nuanced works capture the cultural spirit of our time.”
EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED ANIMA MUNDI COLLECTION
“Her works of art are majestic as well as thought-provoking.”
GALLERY CLIMATE COALITION ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP
Claire Milner has again been awarded Active Membership of the Gallery Climate Coalition, for the year of 2023 (announced April 2024).
She was one of fewer than ten artists worldwide who were selected for the inaugural Active Membership in 2022 along with several Blue Chip galleries, institutions and museums who have demonstrated that their organisation has implemented environmental sustainability best practice. The Gallery Climate Coalition is an international community of arts organisations working to reduce the sector’s environmental impacts, and Claire Milner has been a member since March 2021, shortly after its inception. The goal of the GCC is to facilitate a greener and more sustainable commercial art world. The aim is to provide guidelines and the necessary resources to collectively reduce the sector’s carbon footprint by 50% over the next ten years - in line with the Paris Agreement, and to promote near zero-waste practices. Learn more about GCC here: www.galleryclimatecoalition.org
ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT
Climate change, ocean pollution, habitat loss and the current rapid rate of extinction have devastating implications as the biggest challenges we face. We must act with urgency to resolve these critical concerns, as our planet is fast approaching irreversible tipping points. Biodiversity forms the web of life that we depend on, it is essential to the healthy functioning of ecosystems around the world and is the result of 4.5 billion years of evolution. Over half of global GDP is dependent on nature, but nature is in crisis. The main driver of biodiversity loss is human activity and climate change is an increasingly important factor which depends on biodiversity as part of the solution, so the two are interlinked. Read the full statement
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“A female Warhol, Milner is reviving the ancient mosaic techniques of Byzantine art, combined with painting, to create dazzling art that clashes nature with consumption.”