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    • William Rhodes: Saints and Heroes
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    • Past Exhibitions Oakland
      • Robin L. Bernstein: Hope Dies Last
      • Paula Bullwinkel: Everything That Rises
  • Events
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    • William Rhodes: Throughlines at Sanchez Art Center
    • Satellite Projects
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    • PINT SIZE 3
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Picture
Chris Miles, Archetypes III, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48
Chris Miles
Anything Can Happen
February 23 - April 8, 2023
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 25th, 1-4pm
Artist's Talk: Saturday, March 18th, 2 pm

​
Transmission Gallery is pleased to present  a solo exhibition of paintings by Chris Miles exploring fantastical moments. Frida Kahlo plays cards with Death and a cop,  cows launch into thunderstorms, cat and mouse reach heaven together... Anything Can Happen.

Anything Can Happen 

“Anything Can Happen” is the prevailing motif of Magical Realism, a term applied to art that combines elements of myth or fantasy with realism to convey mysterious and dream-like moments. First emerging as a term coined by Franz Roh in the German Expressionism movement of the 1920’s the phrase was ascribed to works that were fantastical, entrancing and often disturbing. As New York’s Museum of Modern Art put it some years later, “Magic Realists try to convince us that extraordinary things are possible simply by painting them as if they existed.” This is certainly the case with Chris Miles. Like other practitioners in the rich history of Magical Realism, Miles delves into the realm of archetypes, symbology, and imaginary tableaus to create fantastical scenes that resonate with a certain charm and mystery.
Historically, several well-known painters have occupied the territory of Magical Realism. Most immediately coming to mind are the Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico, whose haunting compositions evoke trancelike experiences, and Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo whose work popularized Mexican mysticism and motifs.

Closely related to Surrealism, Magical Realism is less aligned with internal personal dream visions, and more attuned to a shared “reality” embracing the subconscious cultural imagery that emerges from literature, psychology, and religion. In this series of paintings, even pervasive emblems of American childhood pop-culture and imagery evoking uniquely Bay Area legends resonate with sincerity and affection. Note the Shadow characters, the personifications of Good, and the attending Familiars in the grand journeys of life.
​
Miles further embraces the Magical Realist tradition through his use of improbable lighting effects. Emanating from a mysterious source, radiant light casts strong shadows, illuminating protagonists, heroes, and muses with an otherworldly glow that adds to a sense enchanted discomfort.


More about Chris Miles
BIO
After graduating from the University of Utah, Chris moved to New York and worked as an illustrator for magazines, book covers and children's books, working for The New York Times, Random House, Harper Collins and other companies. 

In 2000 he moved back West, shifted his focus to fine art painting, and has since developed his current style which he calls Magical Realism.

"My ideas mostly come from sitting down with my sketchbook and drawing from my imagination, which is nourished by nature, reading, and looking at the works of Old Master and contemporary artists.  Most of my paintings have characters and some kind of implied narrative.  I see each painting as a captured moment, and like an old surreal photograph discovered in a drawer, where one is unsure of what happened before or what will happen next.  I find this particular moment captured in an image very appealing.”  Chris includes symbols and themes that have meaning for him in his work,  and he encourages viewers to interpret these in their own personal way.

Each painting begins with a small thumbnail sketch.  “I enlarge this sketch and make a series of refinements on tracing paper.  I then transfer the refined drawing to the painting surface and begin painting in acrylic, building up layers of paint using the techniques of Old European Masters, whose paintings are a constant source of inspiration for me.” 

EDUCATION
1990 | BFA, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.
1985-86 | ISEP foreign exchange program, University of Urbino, Italy.
1983-85 | Utah State University, Logan, Utah.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2
018 | The Vault Gallery, Cambria, CA
2014 | Collector Art Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2013 | Utah Arts Festival, SLC, UT
2012 | Utah Arts Festival, SLC, UT
2011 | Going Places: Paintings by Chris & Dottie Miles, Art Access Gallery, SLC, UT
2010 | Over the Hills and Through the Woods, New Paintings by Chris Miles, Alpine Art, SLC, UT
2009 | 300 Plates, Art Access Gallery, SLC, UT
2008 | 300 Plates, Art Access Gallery, SLC, UT
2002-08 | Annual Open Studio, Rockwood Art Studios, SLC, UT
2008 | Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
2007 | President's Art Show, Museum of Utah Art and History, SLC, UT
2007 | Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
2007 | 300 Plates, Art Access Gallery, SLC, UT
2007 | Myth & Magic; Loge Gallery, Pioneer Theater, SLC, UT
2006 | Color of the Land, Deseret News Landscape Show, SLC, UT
2006 | 300 Plates, Art Access Gallery, SLC, UT
2006 | After Hours; Sagebrush Gallery, SLC, UT
2005 | Utah Arts Festival, SLC, UT
2005 | Real & Imagined, Forum Gallery, SLC, UT
2004 | Utah Arts Festival, SLC, UT
2004 | Local Colors Artworks, Group Show, SLC, UT
2002 | Fine Art in the Garden, Group Show, SLC, UT
2002 | Unfinished Stories, Group Show, Local Colors Artworks, SLC, UT
2002 | Real and Imagined, Oasis Gallery, SLC, UT
2002 | Painted from Life, Group Show, Glenn Dinning Gallery, SLC, UT
2002 | The Group of Nine, Rocky Mountain Grill, SLC, UT
2001 | Works in Oil, Park Cafe, SLC, UT
2001 | Utah Plein Air; Millcreek Library, SLC, UT
2001 | Utah Arts Council Traveling Show, small towns throughout the US.
2001 | Art & Soup, SLC, UT
2001 | World of the Wild, SLC, UT
1998 | RSVP Dreams exhibit, Society of Illustrators, New York.
1992 | 34th annual Exhibit of American Illustration, Society of Illustrators, New York

AWARDS
2009 | Merit Award, Spring Salon, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT. Painting purchased by the Springville Museum of Art for permanent collection
2009 | Included in American Artist Magazine 2009 limited edition calendar
2008 | Merit Award, Spring Salon, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
2007 | Purchase Award: Deseret News Landscape Show, SLC, UT
2007 | Merit Award, Spring Salon, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
2006 | Celebrity Award, President's Art Show, SLC, UT
2004 | Juror's Award, World of the Wild Art Show, SLC, UT
2004 | Honorable Mention, Embodiment; Myths in Animal Form, Post Picasso.Com
2004 | Merit Award, Spring Salon, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
2004 | Merit Award, Religious and Spiritual Show, Springville Museum of Art, UT
2002 | Best of Show, World of the Wild Art Show, SLC, UT
2002 | Honorable Mention, statewide competition, Bountiful/Davis Art Center, UT
2001 | Merit Award, Deseret News Landscape Art Show, SLC, UT
2001 | Utrecht Award, World of the Wild Art Show, SLC, UT
1990 | Members Award, Society of Illustrators scholarship competition, NY
1989 | Best in Illustration, Annual student exhibition, University of Utah, SLC, UT 
​
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
Salt Lake City International Airport, SLC, UT (Terminal I. Concourse B)
Salt Lake City Public Library: Main Branch, SLC, UT
TRANSMISSION GALLERY 
OAKLAND

​770 West Grand Ave., Suite A,
Oakland, CA 94612

​
Open Thurs-Sat, 12 to 5 pm
till 8 pm on the  first Friday of the month
​and by appointment

Accessibility:
This a 2nd floor art gallery, accessible by stairs.

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Picture
  • Exhibitions
    • Daniel McClain: Do Over
    • Suzanne M Long: Get A Head
    • Jeannie O'Connor: Framing Identity
    • William Rhodes: Saints and Heroes
    • Gallery Showroom
    • Past Exhibitions Oakland
      • Robin L. Bernstein: Hope Dies Last
      • Paula Bullwinkel: Everything That Rises
  • Events
  • News
    • William Rhodes: Throughlines at Sanchez Art Center
    • Satellite Projects
      • Threads of Change
      • Singing to the Difference
      • Flesh and Frame
      • TG San Francisco
  • Artist's Opportunities
    • PINT SIZE 3
  • Art Online
    • Painting
    • Drawings
    • Prints
    • Sculpture
    • Jewelry & Accessories
  • Artists
    • Robin L. Bernstein
    • Karl X. Hauser
    • Mac Mechem
    • Larry Austin
    • Sachiko Miki
    • Jeannie O'Connor
    • William Rhodes
    • Livia Stein
    • Dave Yoas
  • Contact
  • Visit