On the Fence

D Miles Apache unleashes new works

Boasting work from a multiplicity of mediums, from paintings on white picket fences, to skateboard designs, to works on social media, Douglas Miles is a man of many talents. Where some artists stay within the comfortable confines of one medium, Miles relentlessly explores new ways to express himself.

"Versatility comes over time," Miles says. "As an artist, you are working to express yourself. Sometimes, to say something differently, you have to use a different medium."

Miles has a lot to say. His work, often characterized as having a focus on social justice, emerges from the thoughts and feelings that accompany his day-to-day life on the San Carlos reservation. "If my art looks chaotic or messy," he says "it's just a reflection of my reservation—or my reality."

Despite acknowledging that it might make his work less marketable, Miles doesn't shy away from political themes. "To talk about the society we live in is the job of the artist," Miles says. At the same time, socially engaging artwork is often more accessible.

"There's a lot of art about nothing," Miles says. He's not discrediting the talent of the artists who make highly abstract works, but points to their heavy emphasis on form, which results in art found inaccessible to people outside the art world. And this weekend's IFAM, where Miles will have a booth (# 135), is all about accessibility.

As well as displaying work at the emerging market, the artist is staging a pop-up show dubbed American Dreamin'. In it, he'll be displaying paintings on canvas and found-object art, which is fitting: After working in many mediums, it's natural that Miles finds potential art in the world around him.

Douglas Miles: American Dreamin’

6 pm Thursday, Aug. 20.

POP Gallery

125 Lincoln Ave., Ste. 111

820-0788

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