Gino Miles, "Forever," Stainless steel, 108x84 inches, Image courtesy of Long-Sharp Gallery.
Working in both monumental and small dimensions, since the 1970s, sculptor Gino Miles is inspired primarily by 20th-Century masters such as Moore, Brancusi, Archipenko, and Marini. Gino Miles distills his love of the classical figure and objects found in nature, working with a sparse and contemporary language that embodies tranquility. Stripped of an overt narrative, Gino Miles’ abstract forms achieve a poetic harmony of man and nature, with subtle references to both the human form and ancient cultures.
Gino Miles became interested in painting and sculpture in the early 1970s at the University of Northern Colorado, where he also earned a Master of Art in Sculpture. He studied at Universita per i Stranieri in Perugia and the Accademia di Belli Art in Florence. A profound love of teaching inspired Miles to help establish Italart, a school for American and German students in the Chianti region outside Florence. After many years of study and work in Europe, Miles and his wife returned to the United States and settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Working primarily in fabricated stainless steel and bronze, the curvilinear, often weightless appearance of Miles’ pieces creates a visual contradiction with heavy metal materials, challenging the fundamentally static nature of sculpture and as well as the viewer’s perception thereof. Miles also explores the concepts of unity and connection in his work; he often chooses materials that can reflect, absorb, or blend with their surroundings, striking a balance between timelessness and the ephemeral moment.
Miles’ large-scale works are prominently featured in many permanent and private collections throughout the United States, Europe and South America, including Spencer Museum at University of Kansas (2013), Evansville Museum, Disney Corporate Headquarters, the cities of Cerritos and Napa, California, the City of Edmond, Oklahoma, Western Kentucky University, and Bowling Green, Kentucky, among others. In 2016 his sculpture Introspection was placed at the entrance of the Polk Museum of Art.