Rodney McMillian was born in 1969 in Columbia, South Carolina, and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. He holds an MFA from California Institute of the Arts, Valencia; a post-baccalaureate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; and a BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. McMillian has had solo exhibitions at the Contemporary Austin; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; the Aspen Art Museum; MoMA PS1, Long Island City, New York; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; the Kitchen, New York; and NAK Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany, among others. His work has been featured in many group exhibitions, including Sharjah Biennial 12: The Past, the Present, the Possible, United Arab Emirates; When the Stars Begin to Fall: Imagination and the American South, the Studio Museum in Harlem; Blues for Smoke, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and the Whitney Biennial 2008, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. He has also received numerous awards, including the inaugural Suzanne Deal Booth Art Prize.
Rodney McMillian
American, born 1969
In This Land
2019
Latex, acrylic paint, ink, and paper on duck cloth; PA speakers; and stands, with sound, 20 min.
Courtesy the artist and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects
Interview
Tomiquia Moss
Songs
“Born in the U.S.A.”
Written by Bruce Springsteen
Lead vocals, vocal arrangement: Rodney McMillian
Production, additional vocal arrangement: Lance Flowers
Electric guitar, additional vocal arrangement: Kalvin Camp
Keys, additional engineering: Chesare Johnson
Background vocals: Ayaan Ali
“Home”
Written by Charlie Smalls
Lead vocals, vocal arrangement: Rodney McMillian
Production: Lance Flowers
Electric guitar, synthesizer: Kalvin Camp
Keys, additional production and engineering: Chesare Johnson
Background vocals: Ayaan Ali
Additional mixing: John Whynot
Recorded at Barron Studios, Houston, Texas
Recording and mixing engineers: Kingsley Adeyemi, Davis Strauss
Senior engineer: Dorothy Chan
Special Thanks
Additional production and mixing: Scott Benzel
Vocal training, vocal arrangements: Tamara Silvera