Since 1999, Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller have collaborated under the name FAILE (an anagram of “a life”) to create kinetic, image-saturated paintings, prints, sculptures, and installations. Their democratic street style features fragmented mash-ups of comic book and cartoon characters, advertising and propaganda slogans, bright patterns and colors, and historical and pop cultural references. At the beginning of their career, FAILE’s work appeared on the streets as stickers, posters, and stenciled images. Since then, the duo has enjoyed exhibitions at Tate Modern, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the Brooklyn Museum, the Central Academy of Fine Art Museum in Beijing, and the Mima Museum in Brussels, among other institutions. FAILE has also produced large-scale murals and staged participatory public interventions in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Lyon, France—further blurring the lines between “high” and “low” culture.
