Miles Mathis Biography

 Miles Mathis is an anachronism, a romantic artist who feels he doesn't quite fit into the modern age. He describes his work as unabashedly unmodern and completely antithetical to the concerns of modern art.  Mathis took great care to establish a link to the past in his art education. Using the now out of style method of copywork he learned techniques from the Old Masters he admires. But Mathis strives for more than technical skill in his work; he wants to create more than a literal or decorative rendering of a subject. He considers his work a personal expression of the aesthetic. For Mathis the human figure, more than any other subject, has the power to engage the viewer. He delights in the subtle play of light and shadow on reflective surfaces such as hair and skin to suggest mood.  Over and over he can paint the same model, varying the experience by using pencil, pastel, watercolor, charcoal, and oil.

SELECTED AWARDS AND EXHIBITIONS

WEINSTEIN GALLERY, San Francisco, CA. November 2003. Trio NATIONAL ACADEMY OF DESIGN, New York, New York. March 2001. Finalist and Honorable Mention. American Society of Portrait Artists. AUSTIN GALLERIES, Austin, Texas. May 1999. One-man show of paintings, sculpture, drawings and photography, including the Triptych Altarpiece of Harriet Shelley. QUAST GALLERIES, Taos, NM. June 1998. Two-person show. OIL PAINTERS OF AMERICA, Taos, New Mexico. 1997. Purchase Award. AUSTIN GALLERIES, Austin, Texas. March 1997. Group show. OIL PAINTERS OF AMERICA, Taos, New Mexico. 1996. Awarded Best Portrait and Grumbacher Gold Medal. OIL PAINTERS OF AMERICA, San Antonio, Texas. 1995 . Awarded Best Portrait and People's Choice Award. VANIER & ROBERTS GALLERIES, Scottsdale, Arizona. April 1995. Group exhibition of nudes. JAN BALLEW'S NORTHERN GALLERY, Santa Fe, NM. December 1994. Group show. ARTWORKS GALLERY, Austin, Texas. September 1994. Group show, The Nude. VANIER & ROBERTS GALLERIES, Scottsdale, Arizona. March 1994. Group show of miniatures. MARBLE GALLERY, Marble, Colorado. July 1993. One-man show. LESLIE LEVY FINE ART, Scottsdale, AZ. April 1993. Group show, The Figure in Art. ARTWORKS GALLERY, Austin, Texas. September 1992. One-man show. AKRON SOCIETY OF ARTISTS, Akron, Ohio. September 1991. Grand Exhibition. NATIONAL ARTS CLUB, New York, New York. September 1990. 18th Annual Open Exhibition, Pastel Society of America. FIVE-STATE EXHIBITION, Irving, Texas. May 1990. Irving Art Association Annual. Awarded Second Place, oils. DEGAS PASTEL SOCIETY, New Orleans, Louisiana. March 1990. Third Biennial National Exhibition. Awarded the NOAA Award of Merit by Aaron Shikler. AMERICAN ARTISTS PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE, New York, New York. November 1989. Grand National Exhibition at the Salmagundi Club.