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James Miles

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  • Alien
  • David Bowie
  • Leadbelly
  • Magical Mystery Tour
  • Nancy Pelosi
  • Neil Young
  • Ronnie Lott
  • The Big Parade
  • Three Figures
  • Tom Sweeney
James Miles
James Miles

James Miles was born in 1957 in San Francisco, California. He began creating art at Creativity Explored in 1997.

Miles is best known for his ink drawings of miniature scenes. His tight and controlled lines illuminate the essential particulars of the buildings, cars, and figures that populate his drawings. His drawings often employ unusually combined perspectives, and viewers get the sense that they have been invited to witness the details that Miles observes and imagines in the world around him. His iconic style is complemented by the use of slightly mysterious repeated symbols. Three girls chatting, a group of musicians, and an airplane are some of images that are recurrent in his artwork.

Selected Exhibitions

  • 2008

    • Tasty, Creativity Explored
    • one of these does not belong, Adobe Books, San Francisco
    • INsects INsectos, Creativity Explored
    • Quarter Century, Creativity Explored
  • 2007

    • Miles in the Sky, solo show, Creativity Explored
    • AccessAbility, Bay Area Discovery Museum, Sausalito, CA
    • Naked, Creativity Explored
    • SF Notables Portrait Auction, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
  • 2006

    • Outsider Art Fair, New York City
    • SF Notables Portrait Auction, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
    • XTown2ne, curated by Jack Fischer, NIAD Art Center, Richmond, CA
    • The Beat Goes On, Creativity Explored
    • Nature Rules, Creativity Explored
    • Orbit, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco
  • 2005

    • Outsider Art Fair, New York City
    • Aliens: The Green Ones, Creativity Explored
  • 2004

    • Outsider Art Fair, New York City
    • Radiant Spaces: Private Domain, Track 16 Gallery, Santa Monica, Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA
    • This Container Isn’t Big Enough, Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, Harrell Fletcher in collaboration with the Whitney Biennial
    • You Are Here, Creativity Explored
    • Functionable, Creativity Explored
  • 2003

    • Hello There Friend, Christine Burgin Gallery, New York City
    • Lit, Creativity Explored
  • 2001

    • Created in California, Berenberg Gallery, Boston
    • Works on Wood, Creativity Explored
  • 1999

    • Whippersnapper Nerd, Bronwyn Keenan, New York City
  • 1998

    • Whippersnapper Nerd, Mark Moore, Los Angeles
    • Whippersnapper Nerd, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco
    • Galerie Atelier Herrenplaats, Rotterdam
  • 1997

    • Tanpopo-No Ye Gallery, Nara, Japan

Publications

  • 2007

    • “James F. Miles Is A Boyfriend And A Girlfriend” with Harrell Fletcher, August 2007, Gallery 16, 1 Artist 1 Concept Series
  • 2006

    • “Philanthroscope” illustrations, Benefit Magazine, Sept/Oct 2006 ongoing
    • “A Small Sampling from the Collection”, curated by Harrell Fletcher, Art on Paper, July/Aug, Volume 10, No. 6
  • 2004

    • “Radiant Spaces: Private Domain”, Smart Art Press
  • 2002

    • “We Are All a Part of the Universe”, collaboration with Harrell Fletcher
  • 1998

    • “Whippersnapper Nerd”, publishers Harrell Fletcher and Elizabeth Meyer

the workspace of Marietta Canoza, studio artist