San Francisco, Thursday, June 2, 2011— SMALL is an impressive group exhibition of over 100 small-scale works by more than 40 artists, and is one of the most diverse shows that Creativity Explored Gallery has ever presented. No piece is larger than seven inches square, though separately, and as a whole, the work speaks volumes. Miniature ceramics, woodblock paintings, ink drawings, watercolors and mixed-media pieces that range in style and subject matter keep each other company—it’s a veritable Noah’s Ark of an art exhibition. Distinct themes do emerge however; this show demonstrates the unique freedom that tight parameters offer an artist, enabling them to work with life’s minutia or its immensity—on one hand focusing on human gestures, the turn of a phrase, internal organs and the formal qualities of line, shape and color, and on the other hand exploring flight, geography, landscape, and architecture.

One of the standout artists in SMALL is James Miles, not only because he has the largest number of artworks in the show, but also because his serial ink on paper work speaks to the vastness and simplicity of life. A group of small drawings and woodblock paintings depict singular idyllic moments: school girls hug or play volleyball, men in top hats drive down tree-lined suburban streets, a pair of dogs sit and smile. In this small world, life is full of simple pleasures and the sun is always shining. Other pieces by Miles address larger phenomena: miniature multicolor airplanes float on white paper squares in one body of work, getting lost in a vast sky and heading who knows where; another series depicts the intricate exterior architecture of eight internationally recognized museums, including the SFMOMA,Whitney, Guggenheim, Pompidou, and Tate.

This practice of “indexing” extends to many other artists inSMALL; it’s as if small works can’t help but be part of a larger whole, relying on each other to say something big together. In the case of Eric Boysaw, geographic locations are cataloged. In one series, Boysaw used pen and light brown watercolor to draw certain African, Caribbean, and South Pacific islands—places that, for some, might be challenging to find on a map—Fiji, Aruba, Barbados, Trinidad, St. Lucia, et al. He also drew a number of U.S. counties and their capital cities on cardboard with pen and pink paint: Pine Bluff in Jefferson County, Arkansas; Burlington in Kit Carson County, Colorado; Bay City in Bay County, Michigan. The relationship between these places is positively ambiguous; one can’t help but wonder why these particular islands and counties were chosen…what their significance is to each other or the artist—it’s this mystery that will keep you looking.

Other artists in SMALL have created indexes of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and fish. Gordon Chin is known for his delightfully thought-provoking ink and watercolor portraits of unique characters accompanied by a curious phrase. In this show, a man wearing a chef’s hat with upright arms is called “Pizza Chop”, and a blue woman crying her eyes out is titled “Office Table”; perhaps a disgruntled nine-to-fiver? Sara O’Sullivan has made gestural acrylic paintings of body parts, some are distinguishable—lungs, a ribcage—others are not; the mysterious organs prove entertaining to guess. Douglas Sheran has loosely painted a collection of watercolor creatures; the fluid works border on abstraction, demonstrating what little information one needs to conclude that a grey or brown amorphous shape is a dolphin or a kangaroo. These rectangular works, and a series of pocket-sized pieces by Kevin Chu—brightly painted birds in their natural habitats—look as if they are an exciting set of National Geographic trading cards.

There is also a host of non-representational work in SMALL, all of which demands a close look due to varied precise drawing techniques. Says SMALL curator Will Skinker, “Small-scale artwork really encourages a viewer to interact and engage…it creates a more intimate and complete experience.”

It is this level of attention that one must pay to the work in this show, or else you’re bound to miss something quite poetic—the delicate pencil work of Duc Nguyen whose fascination is forests; the careful colored pencil marks of Mary Belknap who creates rich tapestries of line and color; the deliberate abstractions of Laron Bickerstaff whose colored pen scratches on paper are a visual feast of texture and color.

“All of these works together form a world—of people, places, animals, objects, texts, patterns, and processes. If you take the time to look at each small thing, you realize why it, and each of us, is necessary,” says Skinker. It’s true: each piece in SMALLsays a lot with very little, and somehow informs the piece next to it and across the room. The act of walking through the exhibition is not unlike a treasure hunt, though in this case not much hunting is required. Everywhere you look there is a new gem to feast your eyes upon…a tiny masterpiece giving you a glimpse into the interworking of the whole. It’s a magical experience—one that will surely leave you thinking about how important the little things in life can be.

Selected works by SMALL artists James Miles, Mary Belknap, Daniel Green, and Michael Bernard Loggins are currently on view in Create at the Berkeley Art Museum / Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, CA (through September 25), and works by James Miles, Camille Holvoet, Selene Perez, and Walter Kresnik are on view in Faces at Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, CA (through June 25).