Pioneer of 'Urban Primitive Pop Art' Billy The Artist Has Passed Away

Billy The Artist who bridged the divide between the fine art and commercial design worlds with his acclaimed "Urban Primitive Pop Artist," died in New York City at the age 57 on Saturday, January 22, 2022.

His brother, Mark Miller confirmed the cause of death as complications from colon cancer.

Internationally renowned and East Village based, Billy the Artist's distinct style of bold, bright color and fine, line design was immediately recognizable on countless famous products and brands from watches to cars. His creations have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world and at major festivals such as Art Basel Miami.

William Theodore Johann Miller was born in Chicago and grew up in Cleveland on December 15, 1964 and attended the prestigious University of Cincinnati's College Conservatory of Music, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1987. Acting since childhood, his dream was always to make it on Broadway. But the street art Billy The Artist was privy to seeing at the end of the 1980's, Keith Haring subway scrawls and tags that read SAMO, would have a greater pull on his creative spirit than the theater. A neighbor in his East Village tenement where he called home for thirty years would change his trajectory for good. Lynn Marropody, also an artist, always saw BTA sketching and drawing and encouraged him to make more art-going so far as to buy materials for him to do so. From that moment on, Billy Miller the actor left the stage for good. His artist designation would play out in Bull McCabes, a long-standing East Village saloon around the corner from his home. Someone once asked a customer named Motor City James if he had 'Heard about the gig Billy got?' He replied with: "We got four Billy's here." To differentiate from the four, a voice in the bar yelled out: "Billy the Artist."

The gig in question happened to be for the breakthrough Broadway musical RENT painting murals and designing the show's original t-shirts.

"It's a thrill and honor to know that Billy's earliest work with RENT opened doors that would lead to him becoming a great contemporary artist," said RENT producer, Kevin McCollum.

Billy's father, the late William F. Miller was an award-winning journalist and photographer with the Cleveland Plain Dealer and his mother, Marianne Miller, had a career as a social worker. Billy's career as a stage and television performer began at the School of Fine Arts in Willoughby, OH at the age of 8. As a child he starred in many local stage productions including Our Town, The Yearling and Peter Pan, and as the co-host of the television program Video Arcade (on independent Channel 61 / WKBF) that aired in the Cleveland market.

After graduating with a B.A. from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati in 1987, Billy The Artist worked for two years as a performer in Chicago. But Broadway beckoned and the young, ambitious performer moved to the Big Apple and landed the part from his first Broadway audition for the play, Down To Earth, that-due to financial reasons-never made it to opening night.

He appeared in the 20th anniversary Broadway tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, an off-Broadway production of Man Of La Mancha, interned at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Cleveland, and earned accolades for major roles in productions at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and Birmingham Theater outside Detroit.

By 1995, he decided art was his true passion and devoted the rest of his life to painting. His first group show in SoHo featured KAWS, Ron English and Anthony Freda. His second was with Ryan McGinley and CRASH. Then, with the success of RENT, opportunities began pouring in. Clients and global brands from Swatch, Viacom, Lamborghini, The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame Museum, New Balance Shoes, Sony, The Champs Snowboarding Championship in Leysin, Switzerland, Gibson Guitar, Smart Car, Suzuki, Hyundai, Toyota, Mountain Dew, MTV, Puma, Microsoft, and Vans shoes were drawn to Billy The Artist's art and design. And prior to COVID's lockdowns, he joined forces with the world-renowned European company, Goebel, creating an array of new Billy The Artist products first unveiled at the Maison & Objet trade show in Paris.

Billy The Artist had worked for the Cow Parade in New York City (twice). The mega-collector Steve Cohen purchased his latest cow. Billy The Artist was often in transit, whether flying to Fashion Week in Athens and Madrid or to Switzerland where he visited often and wherever he went he was often commissioned to paint live and in front of huge crowds. The largest of these being in front a crowd of 30,000 during the 2009 Venice Biennial on a massive stage with live music while 300-foot animated projections of his art shined across all the buildings surrounding the Piazza San Marco. As the former Swatch CEO, Arlette Elsa Emch put it, "Our event in Venice was an absolute highlight for Swatch. I will never forget working with Billy The Artist and I am very saddened by his death."

His paintings have hung at the prestigious Forbes Gallery as well as other galleries in New York, Chicago, Miami, Orlando, New Orleans, Austin, Cleveland, Mexico City, Hamburg, Paris, Carib Fine Art in Curacao, Foxx Galerie Zurich, Minsheng Art Museum Shanghai, and The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. Billy The Artist's 'ventures', a word he often used to describe his artistic happenings, have been published in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Elle, US Weekly, Juxtapoz, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, and numerous other magazines and newspapers around the globe. He has appeared on television programming on MTV, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, TLC, Discovery, as well as "60 Minutes" and other feature programs the world over.

Grafton J. Nunes, President, Cleveland Institute of Art said "Billy was a natural colorist infusing what appeared to be simple, two-dimensional images with vibrant, joyous colors that directly touched the emotions. Billy made the familiar seem unique, putting his own distinctive stamp on everything he painted."

Billy the Artist was also one of the first American artists to be allowed by the Chinese government to paint live on the famous Bund in Shanghai. Mural projects included Woodstock 99, Art Basel Miami, Casa Décor Miami, De La Guarda, The Rio Casino Las Vegas, and the Broadway, National Tour, and London productions of the musical RENT. In Switzerland, he is revered. Designing wine labels for some of the country's rarest wines from the Valais region. According to Gérard-Philippe Mabillard, Director of Swiss Wine Valais, "People were always hypnotized by what Billy The Artist was creating in front of them. He had become such a key figure in Valais, the largest wine region in Switzerland, that in November of 2021 received the highest distinction in Swiss wines, L'Etoile du Valais.

Billy donated his artwork and live painting performances to many non-profit organizations, including The Fine Arts Association in Willoughby, OH, Rose-Mary Homes for Developmentally Disabled Children in Cleveland, OH, several children's arts organizations, and a memorable project to promote a skateboard park and recreational opportunities for underprivileged youth in rural Brazil. He also taught pro bono Master Art classes at The Fine Arts Association.

Other philanthropic projects include work with The American Red Cross, Live On NY, The Fresh Air Fund, Covenant House, St. Mary's Foundation for Children, The JCC of Manhattan, The Breathe Foundation Brazil, and various schools both in the U.S and abroad.

Billy the Artist was an honorary member of The Fine Arts Association Board of Directors and an inductee at the Mentor High School Hall of Fame. In 2021 he received the Swiss National Award for Achievement in the Arts, presented on live tv in Switzerland.

Along with his mother, Marianne Miller, Billy is survived by his brother Mark Miller (wife Mary Mervar) and cousins Lisa Miller (husband Elton Lee) and Chris Miller (wife, Karin, children Blake and Storm.)

When Billy The Artist wasn't painting or traveling, he cherished immensely the friends he met along the way at his local, East Village watering holes, particularly Swift's Hibernian Lounge, Molly's International Bar, Bull McCabes, McSorley's Old Ale House, and the former Thirsty Scholar, now The Long Pour. These places were extensions of his home and where his joyous laughter and storytelling was best heard. "The biggest connections in my life were from talking to complete strangers" Billy The Artist recounted often.

One of those strangers was Gregory de la Haba, who had introduced Billy The Artist to his exclusive agent in Asia, Mr. Paul Hong-Nam Lee, who in turn had organized a number of solo shows for Billy The Artist in Busan and Seoul. "It's incredibly heartbreaking" said Mr. de la Haba, "Mr. Lee was on his way to New York City the week of his passing to surprise him with a major, new commission in Korea."

Family funeral arrangements are private. A memorial service will be announced at a later date.

Samples of work by Billy the Artist:

Recent Work

Other Projects

Prints