A House RESOLUTION

 

TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR RODNEY MCMILLIAN, A COLUMBIA-BORN ARTIST, FOR HIS NATIONAL ACCLAIM, to congratulate him upon the acquisition and display of two of his works by the Columbia Museum of Art, and to congratulate him upon receiving the Key to the City of Columbia.

 

Whereas, Rodney McMillian was born in 1969, and his art explores the complex and fraught connections between history and contemporary culture, not only as they are expressed in American politics, but also as they are manifest in American modernist art traditions; and

 

Whereas, his work is a shining example of the transformative power of art.  The City of Columbia is proud to claim him as one of its own and to celebrate his exceptional achievements.  With the acquisition of these two works, his artwork will forever be a part of the city's rich cultural tapestry; and

 

Whereas, the Contemporaries, an affinity group of the Columbia Museum of Art (CMA), revealed two new museum acquisitions from Mr. McMillian, making the CMA the first museum in the Carolinas to acquire his work.  Both paintings are currently on display in the CMA's collection gallery 20, where they will remain on view through October; and

 

Whereas, he earned a master's degree from the California Institute of the Arts in 2002, and he was honored with the Contemporary Austin's first Suzanne Deal Booth Art Prize in 2016, and the resulting solo exhibition Against a Civic Death was on view in 2018; and

 

Whereas, Mr. McMillian's work was featured in the 2015 Sharjah Biennial.  His work also has been included in group exhibitions at the Carré d'art in Nîmes, France; the Moody Art Center at Rice University in Houston, Texas; The National Portrait Gallery in London; MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts; the CCA Wattis Institute in San Francisco; the Astrup Fearnley Museet in Oslo, Norway; The Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston; The Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia; the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago; the UCLA Hammer Museum in Los Angeles; and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among many others; and

 

Whereas, in 2019, Mr. McMillian had a solo exhibition at the Underground Museum in Los Angeles featuring several video works originally presented in his 2016 solo exhibition at the ICA Philadelphia.  His monumental installation, In This Land, 2019 was on view as part of the New Work series at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2019.  His solo exhibition, Historically Hostile, opened at the Blaffer Art Museum in Houston, Texas, in 2020; and

 

Whereas, his conceptual art practice is engaged in an ongoing investigation of the United States, its history and public perceptions, as well as the private experiences and dreams of its inhabitants; and

 

Whereas, Mr. McMillian's success is an inspiration to all who have known him throughout the years and to the many bright, young minds in South Carolina.  Now, therefore,

 

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

 

That the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor Rodney McMillian, a Columbia-born artist, for his national acclaim, congratulate him upon the acquisition and display of two of his works by the Columbia Museum of Art, and congratulate him upon receiving the Key to the City of Columbia.

 

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Rodney McMillian.

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